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A  UTHOR : 


MYERS,  PHILIP  VAN 
NESS 


TITLE: 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  FOR 
COLLEGES  AND  HIGH  ... 

PLACE: 

BOSTON 

DA  TE : 

1890 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 

BIBLIOHR  APHIC  MTCRnpORM  TARHFT 


Master  Negative  # 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


i    374 
M9923 


Restrictions  on  Use: 


Myers,  Philip  Van  Ness,  1846-1937. 
Ancient  history  for  colleges  and  high  schools.    By  P   V 


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Part  I, 
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1.  Home — Hist. 


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ANCIENT  HISTORY 


FOR 


COLLEGES   AND   HIGH   SCHOOLS. 


BY 


P.  V.  N.  MYERS, 


Professor  of  History  and  Political  Economy  in  the  University  of  Cincinnati. 

Author  of  "  Medi.*:val  and  Modern  History,"  and 

"A  General  History." 


Part  II. 


A  HISTORY  OF  ROME. 


BOSTON,  U.':..4,:.  , 
PUBLISHED   BY   GINN   &  COMPANY. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY 


FOR 


COLLEGES  AND   HIGH   SCHOOLS. 


BY 


P.  V.   N.  MYERS, 

Professor  of  Uistokv  and  Political  Fxonomv  in  thk  Uxivkrsitv  of  Cincin 
AUTHOK  OF  "M[:i)n:vAL  ano  IVIonKKx  IIistokv,"  and 
"A  General  History." 


NATI. 


Part   II. 


A  HISTORY  OF  ROME. 


l^QSTON,  l]::\.^,  ■ 
PUBLISHED   BY   GINN   &  COMPANY. 


^7/ 


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Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1890,  by 

P.  V.  N.  MYERS, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


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PREFACE  TO  PART  SECOND. 


'-pWO  years  ago  I  gave  to  the  school  public  a  revised  edition 
of  that  part  of  my  Oui/ines  of  Ancimt  History,  first  pub- 
lished in  1882,  which  covered  the  Eastern  nations  and  Greece 
At  the  request  of  my  publishers,  I  have  since  revised  the  remain- 
ing portion  of  the  book,  that  relating  to  Rome,  and  now  give  it 
out  as  a  companion  work  to  the  earlier  volume. 

From  the  preface  of  the  original  work,  I  repeat  my  grateM 
acknowledgment   of  indebtedness   to   the   following  writers  and 
works:   Arnold's,   Mommsen's,   Niebuhr's,   Merivale's,   Liddell's, 
Gibbon's,   and   Leighton's   histories   of  Rome;    Long's  Declim 
and  FaU  of  the  Roman  Republic;  Smith's  Rome  and  Carthage  ■ 
Froude's    C^sar;   Guhl   and  Koner's  Zfe  of  the    Greeks  and 
Romans;  Hadley's  Introduction  to  Roman  Law ;  and  Dunlop's 
and   Cruttwell's   works   on   Roman    Literature.      References   to 
other  authorities  that  I  have  used  in  the  revision  of  the  work 
mil  be  found  in  place,  in  foot-notes.     For  the   correction,  or 
the  further  elucidation,  of  several  matters  relating  to  Roman 
antiquities,    I   am    especially   indebted   to   Lanciani's   admirable 
work,  Ancient  Rome  in  the  Light  of  Recent  Discoveries. 

Mrs.  Margaret  Andrews  Allen  — widow  of  the  late  Professor 
William  F.  Allen,  to  whom  it  is  my  privilege  to  refer  as  my 
friend  and  associate  in  the  preparation  of  Allen  and  Myers' 
Ahcient  History  — \,3&  very  kindly  co-operated  with  me  in  the 


III 


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IV 


PREFACE. 


preparation  of  the  book,  to  the  extent  of  fumishmg  from  her 
husband's  Short  History  of  the  Roman  People  all  the  maps  and 
the  larger  part  of  the  cuts.  A  few  of  the  illustrations  have 
been  engraved  from  photographs  expressly  for  the  present  work. 
Respecting  the  charts  and  cuts  from  Professor  Allen's  book,  I 
quote  from  the  preface  the  following  explanation,  made  in  his 
name:  "Particular  care  was  taken  in  the  selection  of  maps 
and  illustrations.  The  colored  maps  are  reproductions  of  the 
charts  accompanying  Professor  Freeman's  Historical  Geography 
of  Europe.  The  cuts  are  from  Prang's  Illustrations  of  the  His- 
t&ry  of  Art,  Jaegar's    Weltgeschichte,   and    other   equally  good 

authorities." 

P.  V.  N.  M. 

CdixBGB  Hill,  Ohio, 
July,  1890. 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGB 

Preface. „  ^ ,  iji 

List  of  Illustrations vii 

List  of  Maps jx 

Tables  and  Chronological  Summaries ix 

Part   II. 

HISTORY  OF  ROME. 

CHAPTER 

I.  The  Roman  Kingdom  (Legendary  date,  753-509  B.C.) i 

II.   The  Early  Roman  Republic :  Conquest  of  Italy  (509-264  B.C.) . .  21 

III.  The  First  Punic  War  (264-241  B.C.) 42 

IV.  The  Second  Punic  War  (218-201  B.C.).. . .     52 

V.  The  Third  Punic  War  (149-146  B.C.) 69 

VI.  The  Last  Century  of  the  Roman  Republic  (133-31  B.C.) 77 

VII.  The  Last  Century  of  the  Roman  Republic  —  concluded  (133-31 

B-C-) 93 

VIII.  The  Roman  Empire  (from  31  B.C.  to  a.d.  180) 1 19 

IX.  The  Roman  Empire  —  concluded:  Paganism  and  Christianity;  the 

Barbarian  Invasions  (a.d.  180-476) 144 

X.   Architecture,  Literature,  Law,  and  Social  Life  among  the  Romans  175 

Index  and  .Pronouncing  Vocabulary 223 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Frontispiece 


1.  The  Roman  Forum 

2.  View  of  the  Capitoline,  with  the  Cloaca  Maxmia. 

3.  Head  of  Janus 

4.  A  Vestal  Virgin _ 

5.  Suovetaurilia 

6.  Lictors 

7.  Etruscan  Archer  ...... 

8.  Roman  Soldier 

9.  Samnite  Warrior 

10.  The  Column  of  Duillius 

11.  Hannibal 

12.  Marcellus  (coin) 

13.  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio 

14.  Philip  V.  of  Macedonia  (coin) • / 

15.  Antiochus  the  Great  (coin) 

16.  Perseus  of  Macedonia  (coin) 

1 7.  Coin  of  the  Italian  Confederacy 

18.  Marius 

19.  Mithradates  the  Great  (coin) 

20.  Mark  Antony 

21.  Julius  Caesar , .  _    

22.  Augustus  (statue) 

23.  Tiberius 

24.  Coin  of  Vespasian 

25.  Triumphal  Procession  from  the  Arch  of  Titus 

26.  Street  in  Pompeii « ,  0 


7 
II 

12 

15 
22 

31 
31 

37 

47 

58 

65 
67 


70 

71 
86 

88 

97 
III 

112 

120 
124 
132 

m 
134 


vu 


VIU 


UST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS, 


Trajan. 


PAGB 
136 


27- 

28.  Scene  from  Trajan's  Column  137 

29.  Hadiian....    ».. ., 13S 

3a  Antoninus  Pius  (coin) 140 

31.  Commodus 144 

32.  Praetorians 145 

33.  Caracalla. » 147 

34.  Triumph  of  Sapor  ovei  Valerian 149 

35.  Diocletian , . 151 

36.  Christ  as  the  Good  Shephercr(from  the  Catacombs) 153 

37.  Sarcophagus  of  Cornelius  Scipio  Barbatus 172 

38.  Ruins  of  Theatre . 1 77 

39.  TTie  Colosseum. 1 78 

40.  The  Via  Appia 180 

41.  The  Qaudian  Aqueduct 182 

42.  Arch  of  Constantine 187 

43.  Cicero 205 

44.  Seneca. 209 

45.  Gladiators 219 


LIST   OF   COLORED   MAPS. 

PAGE 

1.  Italy  before  the  Growth  of  the  Roman  Power 2 

2.  The  Mediterranean  Lands,  at  the  Beginning  of  the  Second  Punic 

War ....  52 

3.  The  Roman  Dominions,  at  the  End  of  the  Mithradatic  War 96 

4.  The  Roman  Empire,  at  the  Death  of  Augustus 122 

5.  The  Roman  Empire  under  Trajan 134 

6.  The  Roman  Empire  divided  into  Prefectures 154 


LIST   OF   SKETCH-MAPS. 

1.  Rome  under  the  Kings 8 

2.  The  Ager  Romanus  (B.C.  450) 29 

3.  The  Ager  Romanus  (B.C.  338) 36 

4.  Central  Italy,  at  the  Time  of  the  Second  Punic  War . .  57 

5.  Plan  of  the  Battle  of  Cannae 62 

6.  Rome  under  the  Empire  . , 143 


-•o*- 


TABLES  AND   CHRONOLOGICAL  SUMMARIES. 

1.  Chronological  Summary  of  Roman  History  to  the  End  of  the  Republic     1 18 

2.  Table  of  Roman  Emperors  from  Augustus  to  Marcus  Aurelius 142 

3.  Table  of  Roman  Emperors  from  Commodus  to  Romulus  Augustus. . .      173 

ix 


Part    II. 


HISTORY  OF  ROME. 


-•o*- 


CHAPTER    I. 


THE   ROMAN  KINGDOM. 


(Legendary  date,  753-509  B.C.) 

Divisions  of  Italy.  —  The  peninsula  of  Italy  divides  itself  into 
three  parts,  —  Northern,  Central,  and  Southern  Italy.  The  first 
comprises  the  great  basin  of  the  Po,  lying  between  the  Alps  and 
the  Apennines.^  In  ancient  times  this  part  of  Italy  included  three 
districts,  —  Liguria,  GaUia  Cisalpina,  and  Venetia.  The  first  em- 
braced the  southwestern  and  the  last  the  northeastern  part  of 
Northern  Italy.  Gallia  Cisalpina  lay  between  these  two  districts, 
occupying  the  finest  portion  of  the  valley  of  the  Po.  It  received 
its  name,  which  means  "  Gaul  on  this  (the  Italian)  side  of  the 
Alps,"  from  the  Gallic  tribes  that  about  the  fifth  century  before 
our  era  found  their  way  over  the  mountains  and  settled  upon  these 
rich  lands. 

The  countries  of  Central  Italy  were  Etruria,  Latium,  and  Cam- 
pania, facing  the  Western,  or  Tuscan  Sea ;  Umbria  and  Picenum, 
looking  out  over  the  Eastern,  or  Adriatic  Sea ;  and  Samnium  and 
the  country  of  the  Sabines,  occupying  the  rough  mountain  districts 
of  the  Apennines. 

Southern  Italy  comprised  the  districts  of  Apulia,  Lucania, 
Calabria,  and  Bruttium.  Calabria  formed  the  "  heel,"  and  Brut- 
tium  the  "  toe,"  of  the  peninsula.  The  coast  region  of  Southern 
Italy,  as  we  have  already  learned,  was  called  Magna  Graecia,  or 

1  It  should  be  noted  that  the  Italy  of  early  times  did  not  embrace  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  peninsula. 


THE  ROMAN  KINGDOM. 


"  Great  Greece,"  on  account  of  the  number  and  importance  of  the 
Greek  cities  that  during  the  period  of  Hellenic  supremacy  were 
estabhshed  on  these  shores. 

The  large  island  of  Sicily,  lying  just  off  the  mainland  on  the 
south,  may  be  regarded  simply  as  a  detached  fragment  of  Italy, 
so  intimately  has  its  destiny  been  connected  with  that  of  the  penin- 
sula. In  ancient  times  it  was  the  meeting-place  and  battle-ground 
of  the  Carthaginians,  the  Greeks,  and  the  Romans. 

Monntains  and  Rivers.  —  Italy,  like  the  other  two  peninsulas 
of  Southern  Europe,  Greece  and  Spain,  has  a  high  mountain  bar- 
rier, the  Alps,  along  its  northern  frontier.  Cicero  once  said  that 
the  gods  had  raised  this  wall  to  protect  the  peninsula  from  the 
northern  barbarians.  If  such  was  the  purpose  of  the  celestial 
mountain- builders,  it  was  a  strange  oversight  on  their  part  that 
they  should  have  left  a  great  gap  in  the  Eastern,  or  Julian  Alps  ; 
for  here  is  a  low  pass,  through  which  the  barbarians,  as  we  shall 
see,  often  poured  like  a  devastating  flood  into  Italy. 

Corresponding  to  the  Pindus  range  in  Greece,  the  Apennines 
run  as  a  great  central  ridge  through  the  entire  length  of  the  pen- 
insula. 

Italy  has  only  one  really  great  river,  the  Po  {Padus),  which 
drains  the  large  northern  valley  lying  between  the  Alps  and  the 
Apennines.  The  streams  running  down  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Apennines  are  short  and  of  little  volume.  Among  them  the  Rubi- 
con, the  Metaurus,  and  the  Aufidus  are  connected  with  great 
matters  of  history.  Into  the  Rubicon  it  was  that  Caesar  plunged 
when  he  cast  the  die  for  the  empire  of  the  world;  upon  the 
Metaurus,  Hasdrubal,  the  brother  of  Hannibal,  was  defeated  in 
the  Second  Punic  War;  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Aufidus  was 
fought  the  great  battle  of  Cannae. 

Among  the  rivers  draining  the  western  slopes  of  the  Apennines, 
the  one  possessing  the  greatest  historic  interest  is  the  Tiber,  on 
the  banks  of  which  Rome  arose.  North  of  this  stream  is  the 
Amo  (^rwwj),  which  watered  a  part  of  the  old  Etruria;  and 
south  of  it,  the  Liris,  one  of  the  chief  rivers  of  Campania. 


EARLY  INHABITANTS  OF  ITALY. 


Early  Inhabitants  of  Italy.— There  were,  in  early  times,  three 
chief  races  in  Italy,  —  the  ItaHans,  the  Etruscans,  and  the  Greeks.^ 
The  Italians,  a  branch  of  the  Aryan  family,  embraced  two  principal 
stocks,  —  the  Latin  and  the  Umbro-Sabellian  (Umbrians,  Sabines, 
Samnites,  Lucanians,  etc.),  —  the  various  tribes  or  nations  of  which 
occupied  nearly  all  Central,  and  a  considerable  part  of  Southern, 
Italy.  The  Etruscans,  a  wealthy,  cultured,  and  maritime  people  of 
uncertain  race,  dwelt  in  Etruria,  now  Tuscany.  They  here  formed 
a  league  of  twelve  cities,  and  before  the  rise  of  the  Roman  people 
were  the  leading  race  in  the  peninsula.  Numerous  works  of  art 
—  such  as  tombs,  fragments  of  walls,  massive  dikes  to  keep  back 
the  sea,  and  long  tunnels  piercing  the  sides  of  hills  to  drain  the 
lakes  lying  in  the  craters  of  extinct  volcanoes  —  show  the  advance 
in  civilization  they  had  made  at  a  very  remote  date. 

Some  five  hundred  years  B.C.  the  Gauls  came  over  the  Alps, 
pressed  the  Etrurians  out  of  Northern  Italy,  into  which  quarter 
they- had  extended  their  power,  and  settling  in  those  regions, 
became  the  most  formidable  enemies  of  the  infant  republic  of 
Rome.  Of  the  establishment  of  the  Greek  cities  in  Southern 
Italy  we  have  already  learned  in  connection  with  Grecian  history. 

The  Latins.  —  Most  important  of  all  the  Italian  peoples  were 
the  Latins,  who  dwelt  in  Latium,  between  the  Tiber  and  the  Liris. 
These  people,  like  all  the  Italians,  were  near  kindred  of  the  Greeks, 
and  brought  with  them  into  Italy  those  same  customs,  manners, 
beliefs,  and  institutions  that  we  have  seen  to  have  been  the 
common  possession  of  the  various  branches  of  the  Aryan  house- 
hold.2  Their  life  was,  for  the  most  part,  that  of  shepherds  and 
farmers.  There  are  said  to  have  been  in  Latium  in  early  times 
thirty  towns,  which  formed  an  alliance  known  as  the  Latin  League. 
The  city  which  first  assumed  importance  and  leadership  among 
the  towns  of  this  confederation  was  Alba  Longa,  the  "Long  White 

*  Besides  these  principal  races  there  were  the  lapygians  in  Calabria,  and 
the  Venetians  and  the  Ligurians  in  the  north  of  the  peninsula.  The  Ligurians 
were  of  non- Aryan  race,  but  the  others  were  seemingly  of  Aryan  relationship. 

^  See  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece ^  p.  lo. 


4  THE  ROMAN  KINGDOM. 

City,"  so  called  because  its  buildings  stretched  for  a  great  distance 
along  the  summit  of  a  whitish  ridge. 

The  Beginnings  of  Rome.  —  The  place  of  pre-eminence  among 
the  Latin  towns  was  soon  lost  by  Alba  Longa,  and  gained  by 
another  city.  This  was  Rome,  the  stronghold  of  the  Ramnes,  or 
Romans,  located  upon  a  low  hill  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Tiber, 
about  fifteen  miles  from  the  sea. 

The  traditions  of  the  Romans  place  the  founding  of  their  city 
in  the  year  753  r..c.  The  town  was  established,  it  would  seem, 
as  an  outpost  to  guard  the  northern  frontier  of  Latium  against  the 

Etniscans. 

Recent  excavations  have  revealed  the  foundations  of  the  old 
walls  and  two  of  the  ancient  gates.  We  thus  learn  that  the  city 
at  first  covered  only  the  top  of  the  Palatine  Hill,  one  of  a  cluster 
of  low  eminences  close  to  the  Tiber,  which,  finally  embraced 
within  the  limits  of  the  growing  city,  became  the  famed  '*  Seven 
Hills  of  Rome.'*  From  the  shape  of  its  enclosing  walls,  the  origi- 
nal city  was  called  Roma  Qnadrata,  or  "  Scpiare  Rome." 

The  Early  Roman  State :  King,  Senate,  and  Popular  Assem- 
bly.   The  early  Roman  state  seems  to  have  been  formed  by  the 

union  of  three  communities.^  These  constituted  three  tribes, 
known  as  Ramnes  (the  Romans  proper,  who  gave  name  to  the 
mixed  people),  Tities,  and  Luceres.  Each  of  these  tribes  was 
divided  into  ten  wards,  or  districts  {curia)  ;  each  ward  was 
made  up  of  gentes,  or  clans,  and  each  clan  was  composed  of  a 
number  of  families.  The  heads  of  these  families  were  called 
patres,  or  **  fathers,"  and  all  the  members  patricians ;  that  is, 
"  children  of  the  fathers." 

At  the  head  of  the  nation  stood  the  King,  who  was  the  father 
of  the  state.     He  was  at  once  mler  of  the  people,  commander  ot 

J  Compare  the  beginning  of  Rome  with  that  of  Athens,  Eastern  Natiom 
and  Greece,  p.  200:  "The  synoikismos  [union  of  several  communities,  as  in 
the  present  casej  did  not  necessarily  involve  an  actual  settlement  together  at 
one  spot;  but  while  each  resided  as  formerly  on  his  own  land,  there  was 
thenceforth  only  one  council-hall  and  court-house  for  the  whole."  —  MoMMSEN. 


CLASSES   OF  SOCIETY.  5 

the  army,  judge  and  high  priest  of  the  nation,  with  absolute  power 
as  to  life  and  death. 

Next  to  the  king  stood  the  Senate,  or  "  council  of  the  old  men," 
composed  of  the  "  fathers,"  or  heads  of  the  families.  This  coun- 
cil had  no  power  to  enact  laws :  the  duty  of  its  members  was 
simply  to  advise  with  the  king,  who  was  free  to  follow  or  to  disre- 
gard their  suggestions. 

The  Popular  Assembly  {comitia  curiata)  comprised  all  the  citi- 
zens of  Rome ;  that  is,  all  the  members  of  the  patrician  families 
old  enough  to  bear  arms.  It  was  this  body  that  enacted  the  laws 
of  the  state,  determined  upon  peace  or  war,  and  also  elected  the 
king. 

Classes  of  Society.  —  The  two  important  classes  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Rome  under  the  kingdom  and  the  early  republic  were 
the  patricians  and  the  plebeians.  The  former  were  the  members 
of  the  three  original  tribes  that  made  up  the  Roman  people,  and 
at  first  alone  possessed  political  rights.  They  were  proud,  exclu- 
sive, and  tenacious  of  their  inherited  privileges.  The  latter  were 
made  up  chiefly  of  the  inhabitants  of  subjected  cities,  and  of  refu- 
gees from  various  quarters  that  had  sought  an  asylum  at  Rome. 
They  were  free  to  acquire  property,  and  enjoyed  personal  freedom, 
but  at  first  had  no  political  rights  whatever.  The  greater  number 
were  petty  land-owners,  who  held  and  cultivated  -the  soil  about  the 
city.  A  large  part  of  the  early  history  of  Rome  is  simply  the 
narration  of  the  struggles  of  this  class  to  secure  social  and  political 
equality  with  the  patricians. 

Besides  these  two  principal  orders,  there  were  two  other  classes, 
—  clients  and  slaves.  The  former  were  attached  to  the  families 
of  patricians,  who  became  their  patrons,  or  protectors.  The  con- 
dition of  the  client  was  somewhat  like  that  of  the  serf  in  the  feudal 
^vstem  of  the  Middle  Ages.  A  large  clientage  was  considered  the 
crown  and  glory  of  a  patrician  house. 

The  slaves  were,  in  the  main,  captives  in  war.  Their  number, 
small  at  first,  gradually  increased  as^  the  Romans  extended  their 
conquests,  till  they  outnumbered  all  the  other  classes  taken  to- 


THE  ROMAN  KINGDOM. 


GROWTH  OF  ROME. 


gether,  and  more  than  once  turned  upon  their  masters  in  fi^rmi- 
dable  revolts  that  threatened  the  very  existence  of  the  Roman 
state. 

V  The  Legendary  Kings.  —  For  nearly  two  and  a  half  centuries 
after  the  founding  of  Rome  (from  753  to  509  li.c,  according  to 
tradition),  the  government  was  a  monarchy.  To  span  this  period, 
the  legends  of  the  Romans  tell  of  the  reigns  of  seven  kings, — 
Romulus,  the  founder  of  Rome;  Numa,  the  lawgiver;  Tullus 
Hostilius  and  Ancus  Marcius,  conquerors  both  ;  1  arquinius  Priscus, 
the  great  builder ;  Servius  Tullius,  the  reorganizer  of  the  govern- 
ment and  second  founder  of  the  state  ;  and  TaTtjuinius  Superbus, 
the  haughty  tyrant,  whose  oppressions  led  to  the  abolition  by  the 
people  of  the  office  of  king. 

The  traditions  of  the  doings  of  these  monarchs  and  of  what 
happened  to  them  blend  hopelessly  fact  and  fable.  We  cannot 
be  quite  sure  even  as  to  their  names.  Respecting  Roman  affairs, 
however,  under  the  last  three  rulers  (the  Tarquins),  who  were  of 
Etruscan  origin,  some  important  things  are  related,  the  substantial 
truth  of  which  we  may  rely  upon  with  a  fair  degree  of  certainty ; 
and  these  matters  we  shall  notice  in  the  following  paragraphs. 

Growth  of  Rome  under  the  Tarquins. — The  Tarquins  extended 
their  authority  over  the  whole  of  Latium.  The  position  of  suprem- 
acy thus  given  Rome  was  naturally  attended  by  the  rapid  growth 
in  population  and  importance  of  the  little  Palatine  city.^    The 

1  Several  causes  have  been  assigned  to  account  for  the  early  and  rapid 
growth  of  the  power  of  Rome.  Its  situation  upon  the  Tiber  was,  without 
doubt,  favorable  to  its  early  development  as  a  centre  of  trade  and  commerce; 
while  its  distance  from  the  sea  protected  it  from  the  depredations  of  the 
pirates,  which  in  early  times  swarmed  in  the  Mediterranean  and  desolated  the 
coast  cities.  But  most  potent  of  all  influences  in  shaping  the  fortunes  and 
character  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  little  Palatine  town  was  the  necessity 
which  they  found  themselves  under  to  form  some  sort  of  social  and  political 
connection  with  the  neighboring  communities  that,  held  possession  of  the  hills 
immediately  about  them.  The  early  circumstances  of  the  national  life  would 
thus  seem  to  have  given  a  certain  legal  and  political  bias  to  that  Roman  genius 
which  was  destined  to  give  laws  to  the  world. 


original  walls  soon  became  too  strait  for  the  increasing  multitudes  ; 
new  ramparts  were  built  —  tradition  says  under  the  direction  of 
the  king  Servius  Tullius  —  which,  with  a  great  circuit  of  seven 
miles,  swept  around  the  entire  cluster  of  the  Seven  Hills.  A  large 
tract  of  marshy  ground  between  the  Palatine  and  Capitoline  hills 
was  drained  by  means  of  the  Cloaca  Maxima,  the  "  Great  Sewer," 
which  was  so  admirably  constructed  that  it  has  been  preserved  to 
the  present  day.  It  still  discharges  its  waters  through  a  great 
arch  into  the  Tiber.    The  land  thus  reclaimed  became  the  Forum, 


VIEW  OF  THE  CAPITOLINE,  WITH  THE  CLOACA  MAXIMA.      (A  Reconstruction.) 

he  assembling-place  of  the  people.  At  one  angle  of  this  public 
luare,  as  we  should  term  it,  was  the  Comitium,  a  large  platform, 
here  the  assemblies  of  the  patricians  were  held.  Standing  upon 
lis  platform,  so  placed  that  the  speaker  could  command  with  his 
nice  both  the  plebeians  in  the  Forum  and  the  patricians  in  the 
omitium,  was  the  rostrum,*  or  desk,  from  which  the  Roman 

*  Called  by  the  Romans  the  Rostra.     It  was  so  named  because  decorated 
;th  the  beaks  {rostra)  of  war-galleys  taken  from  enemies. 


THE  ROMAN  KING  DO. ^T. 


GROWTH  OF  ROME. 


gether,  and  more  than  once  turned  upon  their  masters  in  fi)rnii- 
dable  revolts  tlial  tliieatened  the  very  existence  of  the  Roman 
state. 

The  Leg^endary  Kings,  ^for  ii»riy  imi  nii  a  half  centuries 
after  tlie  founding  of  Rome  (from  753  to  509  luc,  according  to 
tradition),  the  government  was  a  monarcli) .  To  si)an  this  period, 
the  legends  of  the  Romans  tell  of  Ae  reigns  of  seven  kings,  — 
Romulus,  the  founder  of  Rome;  Numa,  the  lawgiver;  Tullus 
Hostilius  and  Ancns  Marcins,  conquerors  both  ;  Tarquinius  Priscus, 
the  great  builder ;  Scfvm'us  Tullius,  the  reorganizer  of  the  govern- 
ment and  second  founder  of  the  state;  and  'raT([uinius  Superbus, 
the  haughty  tyrant,  whose  oppressions  led  to  the  abolition  by  the 
people  of  the  office  of  king. 

The  traditions  of  the  tloingS  of  tiese  momrchs  and  of  what 
hai)i)ened  to  them  blend  hopelessly  fact  and  fable.  \Ve  cannot 
be  ([uite  sure  even  as  to  their  names.  Resi)ecting  Roman  affairs, 
however,  under  the  last  three  rulers  (the  Tanpiins),  who  were  of 
I'Uruscan  origin,  some  important  things  are  related,  the  substantial 
truth  of  which  we  may  rely  upon  with  a  fair  degree  of  certainty ; 
and  these  matters  we  shall  notice  in  the  following  paragraphs. 

Growth  of  Rome  under  the  Tarquins. —  The  Tanjuins  extended 
their  authority  over  the  whole  of  Latium.  The  position  of  suprem- 
acy thus  given  Rome  was  naturally  attended  by  the  rapid  growth 
in  population  and  importance  of  the  little  Palatine  city.*     The 

1  Several  causes  have  been  assignee!  to  tccount  for  the  early  and  rapid 
growth  of  the  power  of  Ri)me.  Its  situation  upv)n  the  Tiber  was,  without 
doubt,  favorable  to  its  early  develo])nicnt  81  ft  centre  of  trade  and  commerce; 
while  its  distance  from  the  sca  protected  it  from  the  depredations  of  the 
pirates,  which  in  early  times  swarmed  in  the  Mediterranean  and  desolated  the 
coast  cities.  But  most  potent  of  all  influences  in  shaping  the  fortunes  and 
character  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  little  Palatine  town  was  the  necessity 
which  they  fouml  themselves  under  to  form  some  sort  of  social  and  j>olitical 
connection  w  ith  the  neighboring  communities  that  held  possession  of  the  hills 
immediately  about  them.  The  early  circumstances  of  the  national  life  would 
thus  seem  to  have  given  a  certain  legal  and  political  bias  to  that  Roman  genius 
which  was  destined  to  give  laws  to  the  world. 


original  walls  soon  became  too  strait  for  the  increasing  multitudes  ; 
new  ramparts  were  built  — tradition  says  under  the  direction  of 
the  king  Servius  Tullius  — which,  with  a  great  circuit  of  seven 
miles,  swept  around  the  entire  cluster  of  the  Seven  Hills.  A  large 
tract  of  marshy  ground  between  the  Palatine  and  Capitoline  hiHs 
was  drained  by  means  of  the  Cloaca  Maxima,  the  ''  (Jreat  Sewer," 
wliich  was  so  admirably  constructed  that  it  has  been  i)rcserved  to 
ilie  present  day.  It  still  discharges  its  waters  through  a  great 
arch  into  the  Tiber.    The  land  thus  reclaimed  became  the  lu)rum, 


VIEW  OF  THE  CAPITOLINE,   WITH  THE  CLOACA  MAXIMA.      (A  Reconstruction.) 

e  assembling-place  of  the  people.  At  one  angle  of  this  public 
iiiare,  as  we  should  term  it,  was  the  Comitium,  a  large  platform, 
iiere  the  assemblies  of  the  patricians  were  held.  Standing  upon 
is  platform,  so  placed  that  the  speaker  could  command  with  his 
'ice  both  the  plebeians  in  the  Forum  and  the  patricians  in  tlie 
)niitium,  was  the  rostrum,^   or  desk,  from  which  tlie  Roman 

'  Called  by  the  Romans  the  Rostra.     Tt  was  so  named  because  decorated 
'^h  the  beaks  {rostra)  of  war-galleys  taken  from  enemies. 


8 


THE  ROM.iy^  KINGDOM. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  SERVIUS    TULLIUS, 


orators  delivered  their  addresses.  This  assembling-place  in  later 
times  was  enlarged  and  decorated  with  various  monuments  and 
surrounded  with  splendid  buildmgs  and  porticoes.  Here  more  was 
said,  resolved  upon,  and  done,  than  upon  any  other  spot  in  the 

ancient  world. 

The  Senate-house  occupied  one  side  of  the  Forum  ;  and  facmg 
this  on  the  opposite  side  were  the  Temple  of  Vesta  and  the  palace 


^^ 


I,  ROMA  OUADRATA 

THC  CITY  or  ROK^LUS 
2.THE  SABINE  CITY 
,,„,.,      3.THEC0MITIUM 

...|,«.v^^      \        "s£RviUSTULUU8 


,V»i'*'«^i^  %  CoeutiS 

TvAi^^w  ft 


/ 


iiitm- 


770 ME  oNoe/f  rnc  KINGS. 


of  the  king.  Overlooking  all  from  the  summit  of  the  Capitolme 
was  the  famous  sanctuary  called  the  Capitol,  or  the  Capitolme 
Temple,  where  beneath  the  same  roof  were  the  shrines  of  Jupiter, 
Juno,  and  Minerva,  the  three  great  national  deities. 

Upon  the  level  ground  between  the  Aventine  and  the  Palatine 
was  located  the  Circus  Maximus,  the  "  Great  Circle,"  where  were 
celebrated  the  Roman  games.     The  most  noted  of  the  streets  of 


Rome  was  the  Via  Sacra,  or  "  Sacred  Way,"  which  traversed  the 
P^onim  and  led  up  the  Capitoline  Hill  to  the  temple  of  Jupiter. 
This  was  the  street  along  which  passed  the  triumphal  processions 
oi  the  Roman  conquerors. 

New  Constitution  of  Servius  Tullius.  —  The  second  king  of  the 
Etruscan  house,  Servius  Tullius  by  name,  effected  a  most  impor- 
tant change  in  the  constitution  of  the  Roman  state.  He  did  here 
at  Rome  just  what  Solon  at  about  this  time  did  at  Athens.^  He 
made  property  instead  of  birth  the  basis  of  the  constitution. 
The  entire  population  was  divided  into  five  classes,  the  first  of 
which  included  all  citizens,  whether  patricians  or  plebeians,  who 
owned  twenty >^^^;'d!  (about  twelve  acres)  of  land ;  the  fifth  and 
lowest  embraced  all  that  could  show  title  to  even  two  jugera.  The 
army  was  made  up  of  the  members  of  the  five  classes ;  as  it  was 
tliought  right  and  proper  that  the  public  defence  should  be  the 
care  of  those  who,  on  account  of  their  possessions,  were  most  in- 
terested in  the  maintenance  of  order  and  in  the  protection  of  the 
frontiers  of  the  state. 

The  assembling-place  of  the  military  classes  thus  organized  was 
oil  a  large  plain  just  outside  the  city  walls,  called  the  Campus 
Martius,  or  "  Field  of  Mars."  The  meeting  of  these  military 
orders  was  called  the  comitia  centuriata,  or  the  "assembly  of 
hundreds."  -  This  body,  which  of  course  was  made  up  of  patri- 
cians and  plebeians,  gradually  absorbed  the  powers  of  the  earlier 
patrician  assembly  {cotfiitia  curiaid). 

The  reforms  of  Servius  Tullius  were  an  important  step  towards 
the  establishment  of  social  and  political  equality  between  the  two 
great  orders  of  the  state.  The  new  constitution  indeed,  as  Momm- 
^cn  says,  assigned  to  the  plebeians  duties  only,  and  not  rights : 
'•ut  being  called  to  discharge  the  duties  of  citizens,  it  was  not 
iong  before  they  demanded  the  rights  of  citizens;  and  as  the 
i)earers  of  arras,  they  were  able  to  enforce  their  demands. 

^  See  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece,  p.  203. 

-  This  assembly  was  not  organized  by  Servius  Tullius,  but  it  grew  out  of  the 
^'lilitary  organization  he  created. 


THE  FOMAN  KINGDOM. 


THE    CHIEF  ROMAN  DEITIES. 


11 


The  Expulsion  of  the  Kings.  — The  legends  make  Tarquinius 
Superbus,  or  Tarquin  the  Proud,  the  last  king  of  Rome.  He  is 
represented  as  a  monstrous  tyrant,  whose  arbitrary  acts  caused 
both  patricians  and  plebeians  to  unite  and  drive  him  and  all  his 
house  into  exile.  This  event,  according  to  tradition,  occurred  in 
the  year  509  B.C.,  only  one  year  later  than  the  expulsion  of  the 
tyrants  from  Athens.^ 

So  bitterly  did  the  people  hate  the  tyranny  they  had  abolished 
that  it  is  said  they  all,  the  nobles  as  well  as  the  commons,  bound 
themselves  by  most  solemn  oaths  never  again  to  tolerate  a  king, 
enacting  that  should  any  one  so  much  as  express  a  wish  for  the 
restoration  of  the  monarchy,  he  should  be  considered  a  public 
enemy,  and  be  put  to  death.  We  shall  hereafter  see  how  well 
this  vow  was  kept  for  nearly  five  hundred  years. 

The  Roman  Religion. 

Influence  upon  Political  Affairs.  —  To  the  early  Romans  the 
gods  were  very  real.  Hence  religion  had  a  great  influence  upon 
the  course  of  public  events  at  Rome  during  the  first  centuries  of 
her  existence.  Later,  when  the  learned  had  lost  faith  in  and  fear 
of  the  gods,  religion  was  used  corruptly  for  political  purposes. 
Thus  it  happens  that  the  political  history  of  the  Roman  people 

1  See  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece^  p.  205. 

The  sixth  and  fifth  centuries  B.C.  in  ancient  history  correspond  politically 
to  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  in  modern  history.  As  the  later  period  is 
characterized,  in  the  political  sphere,  by  the  substitution  of  democracy  for 
monarchy,  so  was  the  earlier  era  marked  by  the  decay  of  monarchical  and  the 
growth  of  popular  forms  of  government.  Speaking  of  the  abolition  of  mon- 
archy at  Rome,  Mommsen  says :  "  How  necessarily  this  was  the  result  of  the 
natural  development  of  things  is  strikingly  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  the 
same  change  of  constitution  took  place  in  an  analogous  manner  through 
the  whole  circuit  of  the  Italo-Grecian  world.  Not  only  in  Rome,  but  like- 
wise among  the  other  Latins  as  well  as  among  the  Sabellians,  Etruscans,  and 
Apulians,  —in  fact,  in  all  the  Italian  communities,  just  as  in  those  of  Greece,— 
we  find  the  rulers  for  life  of  an  earlier  epoch  superseded  in  after  times  by 
annual  magistrates." 


becomes  closely  interwoven  with  their  religion.  Therefore,  in 
order  to  understand  the  transactions  of  the  period  upon  which 
we  are  about  to  enter,  we  must  first  acquaint  ourselves  with  at 
least  the  prominent  features  of  the  religious  institutions  and 
beliefs  of  the  Romans. 

The  Chief  Roman  Deities.  — The  basis  of  the  Roman  religious 
system  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  Grecian :  the  germs  of  its  in- 
stitutions were  brought  from  the  same  early  Aryan  home.  At 
the  head  of  the  Pantheon  stood  Jupiter,  identical  in  all  essential 


HEAD   OF  JANUS.     (From  a  Roman  Coin.) 

attributes  with  the  Hellenic  Zeus.  He  was  the  special  protector 
of  the  Roman  people.  To  him,  together  with  Juno  and  Minerva, 
was  consecrated,  as  we  have  already  noticed,  a  magnificent  temple 
upon  the  summit  of  the  Capitoline  Hill,  overlooking  the  Forum 
and  the  city.  Mars,  the  god  of  war,  standing  next  in  rank,  was 
the  favorite  deity  and  the  fabled  father  of  the  Roman  race,  who 
were  fond  of  calling  themselves  the  "  Children  of  Mars."  They 
jToved  themselves  worthy  offsi)ring  of  the  war-god.     Martial  games 


12 


THE  ROMAN  KINGDOM. 


THE   SACRED  COLLEGES. 


13 


and  festivals  were  celebrated  in  his  honor  during  the  first  month  of 
the  Roman  year,  which  bore,  and  still  bears,  in  his  honor,  the  name 
of  March.  Janus  was  a  double-faced  deity,  "  the  god  of  the  begin- 
ning and  the  end  of  everything."  The  month  of  January  was  sacred 
to  him,  as  were  also  all  gates  and  doors.  The  gates  of  his  temple 
were  always  kept  open  in  time  of  war  and  shut  in  time  of  peace. 
The  fire  upon  the  household  hearth  was  regarded  as  the  symbol 

of   the   goddess   Vesta. 
Her  worship  was  a  fa- 
vorite one  with  the  Ro- 
mans.    The  nation,  too, 
as  a  single  great  family, 
had  a  common  national 
hearth,  in   the   Temple 
of  Vesta,  where  the  sa- 
cred   fires    were    kept 
burning     from    genera- 
tion   to    generation    by 
six  virgins,  daughters  of 
the  Roman  state. ^    The 
Lares  and  Penates  were 
household  gods.     Their 
images  were  set  in  the 
entrance  of  the    dwell- 
ing.    The    Lares   were 
the  spirits  of  ancestors, 
which  were   thought  to 
linger   about  the  home 
as  its  guardians. 

Oracles  and  Divination.  —  The  Romans,  like  the  Greeks, 
thought  that  the  will  of  the  gods  was  communicated  to  men  by 
means  of  oracles,  and  by  strange  sights,  unusual  events,  or  smgu- 

1  For  an  interesting  account  of  the  remains  of  the  House  of  the  Vestals, 
brought  to  light  by  recent  excavations,  see  Lanciani's  Ancient  Rome  in  the 
Li^  of  Recent  Discoveries. 


VESTAL  VIRGIN. 


lar  coincidences.  There  were  no  true  oracles  at  Rome.  The 
Romans,  therefore,  often  had  recourse  to  those  in  Magna  Grgecia, 
even  sending  for  advice,  in  great  emergencies,  to  the  Delphian 
shrine.  From  Etruria  was  introduced  the  art  of  the  haruspices, 
or  soothsayers,  which  consisted  in  discovering  the  will  of  the  gods 
by  the  appearance  of  victims  slain  for  the  sacrifices. 

The  Sacred  Colleges.  — The  four  chief  sacred  colleges,  or  soci- 
eties, were  the  Keepers  of  the  Sibylline  Books,  the  College  of 
Augurs,  the  College  of  Pontiffs,  and  the  College  of  the  Heralds. 

A  curious  legend  is  told  of  the  Sibylline  Books.     An  old  woman 
came  to  Tarquinius  Superbus  and  offered  to  sell  him,  for  an  ex- 
travagant price,  nine  volumes.     As  the  king  declined  to  pay  the 
sum  demanded,  the  woman  departed,  destroyed  three  of  the  books, 
and  then,  returning,  offered  the  remainder  at  the  very  same  sum' 
that  she  had  wanted  for  the  complete  number.     The  king  still 
refused  to  purchase,  so  the  sibyl  went  away  and  destroyed  three 
more  of  the  volumes,  and  bringing  back  the  remaining  three,  asked 
the  same  price  as  before.     Tarquin  was  by  this  time  so  curious 
respecting  the  contents  of  the  mysterious  books  that  he  purchased 
the  remaining  volumes.     It  was  found  upon  examination  that  they 
were  filled  with  prophecies  respecting  the  future  of  the  Roman 
people.     The  books,  which  were  written  in  Greek,  were  placed  in 
a  stone  chest,  and  kept  in  a  vault  beneath  the  Capitoline  temple ; 
and  special  custodians  were  appointed  to  take  charge  of  them  and 
interpret  them.     The  number  of  keepers,  throughout  the  most 
important  period  of  Roman  history,  was  fifteen.     The  books  were 
consulted  only  in  times  of  extreme  danger. 

The  duty  of  the  members  of  the  College  of  Augurs  was  to 
interpret  the  omens,  or  auspices,  which  were  casual  sights  or  ap- 
pearances, by  which  means  it  was  believed  that  Jupiter  made  known 
his  will.  Great  skill  was  required  in  the  "  taking  of  the  auspices," 
•^s  it  was  called.  No  business  of  importance,  public  or  private, 
HMS  entered  upon  without  first  consulting  the  auspices,  to  ascertain 
whether  they  were  favorable.  The  public  assembly,  for  illustra- 
tion, must  not  convene,  to  elect  officers  or  to  enact  laws,  unless 


12 


THE  I^OMAN'  KINGDOM, 


and  festivals  were  celebrated  ill  Ills  honor  during  the  first  month  of 
the  Roman  year,  which  bore,  and  still  bears,  in  his  honor,  the  name 
of  March.  Janus  was  a  double-taced  deity,  ''  the  god  of  the  begin- 
ning and  the  cud  of  everything."  The  month  of  January  was  sacred 
to  him,  as  were  also  all  gates  and  doors.  'I'he  gates  of  his  temi)le 
were  always  kept  open  in  time  of  war  and  shul  m  time  of  peace, 
l^he  fire  upon  the  liousehold  hearth  was  regarded  as  the  symbol 

of   the   godtless   Vesta. 
Her  worship  was  a  fii- 
vorite  one  with  the  Ro- 
mans.    The  nation,  too, 
as  a  single  great  family, 
had  a  common  national 
hearth,  in   the   Temple 
of  Vesta,  where  the  sa- 
Cfed    iies    were    kept 
btitliing     from    genera- 
tion   to    generation    by 
six  virgins,  daughters  of 
the  Roman  state.^    The 
Lares  and  Penates  were 
houseiiold  gods.     Their 
images  were  set  in  the 
entrance  of  the    dwell- 
ing.     The    Lares   were 
the  s])irits  of  ancestors, 
which   were    thought  to 
hnger    about  the  home 

VESTAL   VIRGIN.  ?  .. 

as  Its  guardians. 
Oracles    and    Divination.  —  The   Romans,    like   the   Greeks, 
thought  that  the  will  of  the  gods  was  communicated  to  men  by 
means  of  oracles,  and  by  strange  sights,  unusual  events,  or  smgu- 

1  For  an  interesting  tCCOllflt  ©f  tie  remains  of  the  House  of  the  Vestals, 
brought  to  lij^ht  l)y  recent  excavations,  see  Landani^s  Ancient  Rome  in  the 
Light  of  Recent  Discoveries. 


THE   SACRED   COLLEGES. 


13 


lar  coincidences.  There  were  no  true  oracles  at  Rome.  I1ie 
Romans,  therefore,  often  had  recourse  to  those  in  Magna  Gn-ecia, 
even  sending  for  advice,  in  great  emergencies,  to  the  Deli)hian 
shrine.  From  Ivtniria  was  introchu  ed  the  art  of  the  haruspices, 
or  soothsayers,  which  consisted  in  discovering  the  will  of  the  gods 
by  the  api)earance  of  victims  slain  for  the  sacrifices. 

The  Sacred  Colleges.— The  four  chief  sacred  colleges,  or  soci- 
eties, were  the  Keepers  of  the  Sibylline  IJooks,  the'^College  of 
•Augurs,  the  College  of  Pontiffs,  and  the  C^jllege  of  the  Heralds. 

A  curious  legend  is  told  of  the  Sibylline  Dooks.     An  old  woman 
came  to  Tarquinius  Superbus  and  offered  to  sell  him,  for  an  ex- 
travagant price,  nine  volumes.     As  the  king  declined  to  i)ay  the 
sum  demanded,  the  woman  departed,  destroyed  three  of  the  books, 
and  then,  returning,  offered  the  remainder  at  the  very  same  suni 
that  she  had  wanted  for  the  complete  number.      The  king  still 
refused  to  purchase,  so  the  sibyl  went  away  and  destroyed  three 
more  of  the  volumes,  and  bringing  back  the  remaining  three,  asked 
the  same  price  as  before.     Tarcpiin  was  by  this  time  so  curious 
respecting  the  contents  of  the  mysterious  books  that  he  i)urchased 
the  remaining  volumes.     It  was  found  upon  examination  that  they 
were  filled  with  prophecies  respecting  the  future  of  the  Roman 
people.     The  books,  which  were  written  in  Oeck,  were  placed  in 
a  stone  chest,  and  kept  in  a  vault  beneath  the  Capitoline  temple ; 
and  special  custodians  were  ai)pointed  to  take  charge  of  them  and 
interpret  them.      The  mnnber  of  keepers,  throughout  the  most 
important  period  of  Roman  history,  was  fifteen.     Hie  books  were 
'onsulted  only  in  times  of  extreme  danger. 

The  duty  of  the  members  of  the  College  of  Augurs  was  to 
interpret  the  omens,  or  auspices,  which  were  casual  sights  or  ap- 
I'earances,  by  which  means  it  was  believed  that  Jupiter  made  known 
'lis  will.  Great  skill  was  required  in  the  "taking  of  the  auspices," 
"*  it  was  called.  No  business  of  importance,  public  or  private, 
vas  entered  upon  without  first  consulting  the  auspices,  to  ascertain 
H-hether  they  were  favorable.  The  public  assembly,  for  illustra- 
!on,  must  not  convene,  to  elect  officers  or  to  enact  laws,  unless 


14 


THE  ROMAN  KINGDOM, 


SACRED    GAMES. 


15 


the  auspices  had  been  taken  and  found  propitious.  Should  a 
peal  of  thunder  occur  while  the  people  were  holding  a  meeting, 
that  was  considered  an  unfavorable  omen,  and  the  assembly  must 

instantly  disperse. 

It  is  easy  to  see  how  the  power  of  the  augurs  might  be  used 
corruptly  for  political  ends.     At  first  all  the  members  of  the  col- 
lege were  patricians,  and  very  frequently  they  would  prevent  the 
plebeians  from  holding  an  assembly  by  giving  out  that  the  auspices 
were  not  favorable  ;  and  sometimes,  when  matters  were  not  tak- 
ing such  a  course  in  the  popular  assembly  as  suited  the  nobles 
and  some  measure  obnoxious  to  their  order  was  on  the  point  of 
being  carried,  they  would  secure  an  announcement  from  the  au- 
gurs  that  Jupiter  was  thundering,  or  manifesting  his  displeasure  in 
some  other  way;  and  the  people  were  obliged  to  break  up  their 
meeting  on  the  instant.     One  of  the  privileges  contended  for  by 
the  plebeians  was  admission  to  this  college,  that  they  might  assist 
in  watching  the  omens,  and  thus  this  important  matter  not  be  left 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  their  enemies. 

The  College  of  Pontiffs  was  so  called  probably  because  one  of 
the  duties  of  its  members  was  to  keep  in  repair  the  Bridge  {pons) 
of  Piles  over  the  Tiber.^     This  was  the  most  important  of  all  the 
religious  institutions  of  the  Romans ;  for  to  the  pontiffs  belonged 
the  superintendence  of  all  religious  matters.     In  their  keepmg, 
too,  was  the  calendar,  and  they  could  lengthen  or  shorten  the 
year  which  power  they  sometimes  used  to  extend  the  office  of  a 
favorite  or  to  cut  short  that  of  one  who  had  incurred  their  dis- 
pleasure.   The  head  of  the  college  was  called  Pontifex  Maximus, 
or  the  Chief  Bridge-builder,  which  title  was  assumed  by  the  Ro- 
man emperors,  and  after  them  by  the  Christian  bishops  of  Rome ; 
and  thus  the  name  has  come  down  to  our  times. 

The  College  of  Heralds  had  the  care  of  all  public  matters  per- 
taining to  foreign  nations.    If  the  Roman  people  had  suffered  any 

1  See  p  20      It  is  possible  that  pons  originally  signified  not  "bridge."  but 
"way"  generally,  ^xm\  pontifex  therefore  meant  "constructor  of  ways." - 

MOMMSEN. 


wrong  from  another  state,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  heralds  to 
demand  satisfaction.  If  this  was  denied,  and  war  determined 
upon,  then  a  herald  proceeded  to  the  frontier  of  the  enemy's 
country  and  hurled  over  the  boundary  a  spear  dipped  in  blood. 
This  was  a  declaration  of  war.  The  Romans  were  very  careful 
in  the  observance  of  this  ceremony. 

Sacred  Gaines.  —  The  Romans  had  many  religious  games  and 
festivals.     Prominent  among  these  were  the  so-called  Circensian 


SUOVETAURILIA. 

(A  lustratory  sacrifice  of  a  bull,  a  sheep,  and  a  swine,  which  ended  a  festival  known 

a«  the  Ambarvalia,  in  which  the  fields  were  purified  and   blessed.) 

(James,  or  Games  of  the  Circus,  which  were  very  similar  to  the 
sacred  games  of  the  Greeks.^  They  consisted,  in  the  main,  of 
'  hariot-racing,  wrestling,  foot-racing,  and  various  other  athletic 
'ontests. 

These  festivals,  as  in  the  case  of  those  of  the  Greeks,  had  their 

*  See  Eastern  Natiom  and  Greece^  p.  i8i. 


16 


THE  ROM.IX  JCfNGDOM. 


LEGENDARY  TALES. 


17 


\ 


I    f 


origin  in  the  belief  that  the  gods  deHghted  in  the  exhibition  ot 
feats  of  skill,  strength,  or  endurance ;  that  their  anger  might  be 
appeased  by  such  spectacles  ;  or  that  they  might  be  persuaded 
by  the  promise  of  games  to  lend  aid  to  mortals  in  great  emergen- 
cies. At  the  opening  of  the  year  it  was  customary  for  the  Roman 
magistrate,  in  behalf  of  the  people,  to  promise  to  the  gods  games 
and  festivals,  provided  good  crops,  protection  from  pestilence, 
and  victory  were  granted  the  Romans  during  the  year.  So,  too,  a 
general  in  great  straits  in  the  field  might,  in  the  name  of  the  state, 
vow  plays  to  the  gods,  and  the  people  were  sacredly  bound  to 
fulfil  the  promise.  Plays  given  in  fulfilment  of  vows  thus  made 
were  called  votive  games.^ 

Towards  the  close  of  the  republic  these  games  lost  much  of 
their  religious  character,  and  at  last  became  degraded  into  mere 
bnital  shows  given  by  ambitious  leaders  for  the  purpose  of  wmmng 
popularity. 

1  The  Saturnalia  was  a  festival  held  in  December  in  honor  of  Saturn,  the 
god  of  sowing.  It  was  an  occasion  on  which  all  classes,  including  the  slaves, 
who  were  allowed  their  freedom  during  the  celebration,  gave  themselves  up  to 
riotous  amusements;  hence  the  significance  we  attach  to  the  word  satuniahan. 
The  well-known  Roman  Carnival  of  to-day  is  a  survival  of  the  ancient  Satur- 
nalia. 


LEGENDARY  TALES   PERTAINING   TO   THE   EARLY  HIS- 
TORY  OF   ROME.i 

\      ^^EAS  AND  HIS  Trojan  Companions  arrive  in  Italy. 

After  Troy  had  been  taken  by  the  Greeks,  yEneas,  led  by  the  Fates, 
came  in  search  of  a  new  home  to  the  Laurentian  ^  shores.  King  Latinus' 
when  he  learned  that  the  leader  of  the  band  was  ^neas,  the  son  of 
Anchises  by  Venus,  made  a  league  of  friendship  with  the  strangers, 
and  gave  his  daughter  Lavinia  in  marriage  to  the  Trojan  hero,  ^neas 
built  a  town  which  he  called  Lavinium,  after  the  name  of  his  wife. 

The  Trojans  and  the  people  of  Latium  were  soon  engaged  in  war 
with  Turnus,  king  of  the  Rutulians,  to  whom  Lavinia  had  been  affianced 
before  the  coming  of  .^neas.  In  the  battle  that  followed,  the  Rutulians 
were  defeated,  but  King  Latinus  was  killed  ;  and  thenceforth  ^neas 
was  king,  not  only  of  the  Trojans,  but  also  of  the  people  over  whom 
Lathuis  had  ruled.  To  both  nations  he  gave  the  common  name  of 
Latins. 

^neas  was  followed  in  the  government  by  his  son  Ascanius,  who, 
hndmg  Lavinium  too  strait  for  its  inhabitants,  left  that  town,  and  built 
a  new  city  on  the  Alban  Mount,  to  which  was  given  the  name  of  Alba 
Longa.     In  this  city  ruled  Ascanius  and  a  long  line  of  his  descendants. 
At  length,  by  force  and  violence,  ruled  Amulius.     He  had  gained  pos- 
session of  the  kingdom  by  dethroning  his  brother  Numitor,  putting  to 
death  his  male  olTspring,  and  making  his  daughter,  Rhea  Sylvia,  a 
vestal,  in  order  that  she  should  remain  unmarried.     But  Rhea  brought 
forth  twins,  of  whom  the  god  Mars  was  declared  to  be  the  father.     The 
cruel  king  ordered  the  children  to  be  thrown  into  the  Tiber.'    Now  it 
so  happened  that  the  river  had  overflowed  its  banks,  and  the  cradle  in 
which  the  children  were  borne  was  finally  left  on  dry  ground  by  the 
rctn-ing  flood.     Attracted   by  the   cries   of  the   children,  a  she-wolf 
directed  her  course  to  them,  and  with  the  greatest  tenderness  fondled 
and  nursed  them.     There,  in  the  care  of  the  wolf,  a  shepherd  named 
Kiustulus  found  them,  and  carried  them  home  to  his  wife,  to  be  reared 
with  his  own  children. 

1  From  Livy's  History  of  Rome,  I.  and  II.  In  this  connection  read  Macaulay's 
Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,  As  to  the  credibility  of  these  legends,  see  further  on  last 
chapter,  paragraph  headed  "  Lays  and  Ballads  of  the  Legendary  Age  " 

2  Italian. 


18 


THE  ROMAN  KINGDOM. 


LEGENDARY   TALES. 


19 


When  the  boys  had  grown  t(^be  men,  they  put  to  death  the  usurper 
Amulius,  and  restored  the  throne  to  their  grandfather  Numitor.    Numi- 
tor  now  reigned  at  Alba ;  but  Romulus  and  Remus  —  for  so  the  brothers 
were  named  —  had  a  strong  desire  to  build  a  city  on  the  spot  where  they 
had  been  exposed  and  rescued.     A  shameful  contest,  however,  arose 
between  the  brothers,  as  to  which  of  the  two  should  give  name  to  the 
new  city.     It  was  determined  that  the  matter  should  be  decided  by 
augury  (see  p.   13).     Romulus   chose   the   Palatine  and   Remus   the 
Aventine  Hill,  from  which  to  watch  for  the  omens.     To  Remus  first 
appeared  six  vultures  ;  afterwards  twelve  appeared  to  Romulus.     Here- 
upon each  was  proclaimed  king  by  his   followers,  -  Remus,  on   the 
ground  that  the  birds  had  shown  themselves  to  him  first;  Romulus,  on 
the  ground  that  the  greater  number  had  appeared  to  him.     A  quarrel 
ensuing,   Remus  was  killed.     Another  account,   however,   says   that 
Remust  when  the  walls  of  the  new  city  had  been  raised  to  only  a  little 
height,  leaped  over  them  in  derision;  whereupon  Romulus  in  anger 
slew  him,  at  the  same  time  uttering  these  words :  "So  perish  every  one 
that  shall  hereafter  leap  over  my  wall."     The  city  was  at  length  built, 
and  was  called  Rome,  from  the  name  of  its  founder.  ( 

The  Romans  capture  the  Sabine  Women  for  Wives. 

The  new  city,  having  been  made  by  Romulus  a  sort  of  asylum  or 
refuge  for  the  discontented  and  the  outlawed  of  all  the  surrounding 
states,  soon  became  very  populous,  and   more   powerful   than   either 
Lavinium  or  Alba  Longa.     But  there  were  few  women  among  its  in- 
habitants.    Romulus  therefore  sent  embassies  to  the  neighboring  cities 
to  ask  that  his  people  might  take  wives  from  among  them.     But  the 
adjoining  nations  were  averse  to  entering  into  marriage  alliances  with 
the  men  of  the  new  city.    Thereupon  the  Roman  youth  determined  to 
secure  by  violence  what  they  could  not  obtain  by  other  means.     Rom- 
ulus appointed  a  great  festival,  and  invited  to  the  celebration  all  the 
surrounding  peoples.    The  Sabines  especially  came  in  great  numbers 
with  their  wives  and  daughters.     In  the  midst   of  the  games,   the 
Roman  youth,  at  a  preconcerted  signal,  rushed  among  the  spectators, 
and  seized  and  carried  off  to  their  homes  the  daughters  of  their  guests. 
This  violation  of  the  laws  of  hospitality  led  to  a  war  on  the  part  of 
the  injured  Sabines  against  the  Romans.     Peace,  however,  was  made 
between  the  combatants  by  the  young  women  themselves,  who,  as  the 
wives  of  their  captors,  had  become  reconciled  to  their  lot.    The  two 


nations  were  now  combined  into  one,  the  Sabines  removing  to  one  of 
the  Seven  Hills.  Each  people,  however,  retained  its  own  kin-  •  but 
upon  the  death  of  the  Sabine  king,  Titus  Tatius,  Romulus  ruled'over 
both  the  Romans  and  the  Sabines.  During  a  thunder-storm  Romulus 
was  caught  up  to  the  skies,  and  Numa  Pompilius  ruled  in  his  stead. 

The  Combat  between  the  Horatii  and  the  Curiatil 
In  process  of  time  a  war  broke  out  between  Rome  and  Alba  Lon-a 
It  might  be  called  a  civil  war,  for  the  Romans  and  Albans  were  alfke 
descendants  of  the  Trojans.     The  two  armies  were  ready  to  en-a-e  in 
battle  when  it  was  proposed  that  the  controversy  should  be  decfdSi  by 
;.  combat  between  three  Alban  brothers  named  the  Curiatii,  and  three 
Roman  brothers  known  as  the  Horatii.     The  nation  whose  champions 
gamed  the  victory  was  to  rule  over  the  other.     On  the  signal  bein- 
given,  the  combat  began.     Two  of  the  Romans  soon  fell  lifeless    and 
the  three  Curiatii   were  wounded.     The  remaining  Roman,  whj  was 
unhurt,  was  now  surrounded  by  the   three  Albans.     To  avoid  their 
united  attack,  he  turned  and  fled,  thinking  that  they,  being  wounded, 
would  almost  certainly  become  separated  in  following  him.     This  did 
actually  happen ;  and  when  Horatius,  looking  back  as  he  fled   saw  the 
Cunatii  to  be  following  him  at  diflbrent  intervals,  he  turned  himself 
about  and  fell  upon  his  pursuers,  one  after  the  other,  and  despatched 
them.  ^ 

So  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  treaty  which  the  two  cities 
had  made  conditioned  on  the  issue  of  the  fight  between  the  champions, 
Rome  held  dominion  over  Alba  Longa.  But  the  league  between  the 
Komans  and  the  Albans  was  soon  broken,  and  then  the  Romans  de- 
'nohshing  the  houses  of  Alba  Longa,  carried  off"  all  the  inhabitants  to 
Kome,  and  incorporated  them  with  the  Roman  state.i 

The  Exploit  of  Horatius  Cocles. 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  Tarquins  from  Rome,  they  besought  Por- 

^nna,  king  of  Clusium,  a  powerful  city  of  Etruria,  to   espouse  their 

use,  and  help  them  to  regain  the  kingly  power  at  Rome.     Porsenna 

nt  a  favorable  ear  to   their  solicitations,  and   made  war  upon  the 

'Oman  state.     As  his  army  drew  near  to  Rome,  all  the  people  from 

1  For  the  sequel  of  this  story,  see  Livy,  I.  26. 


1 1 


20 


THE  ROMAN  KINGDOM. 


the  surrounding  country  hastened  within  the  city  gates.  The  bravery 
of  a  single  man,  Horatius  Codes,  alone  prevented  the  enemy  from 
effecting  an  entrance  into  the  city.  This  man  was  posted  as  a  guard 
on  the  Sublician  Bridge  (that  is,  -bridge  of  piles"),  which  led  across 
the  Tiber  from  the  citadel  of  the  Janiculum.  The  Janiculum  having 
been  taken  by  the  enemy,  its  defenders  were  retreating  in  great  disorder 
across  the  bridge,  and  the  victors  following  close  after.  Horatius  Codes 
called  after  his  fleeing  companions  to  break  down  the  bridge,  while  he 
held  the  pursuers  at  bay.  Taking  his  stand  at  the  farther  entrance  of  the 
bridge,  he,  with  the  help  of  two  comrades,  held  the  enemy  in  check, 
while  the  structure  was  being  destroyed.  As  the  bridge  fell  with  a 
crash  into  the  stream.  Codes  leaped  into  the  water,  and  amidst  a 
shower  of  darts  swam  in  safety  to  the  Roman  side.  Through  his  brav- 
ery he  had  saved  Rome.  His  grateful  countrymen  erected  a  statue  to 
his  honor  in  the  Comitium,  and  voted  him  a  plot  of  land  as  large  as  he 
could  plow  in  a  single  day. 

The  Fortitude  of  Mucius  SCvEvola. 

Failing  to  take  Rome  by  assault,  Porsenna  endeavored  to  reduce  it 
by  a  regular  siege.  After  the  investment  had  been  maintained  for  a 
considerable  time,  a  Roman  youth.  Gains  Mucius  by  name,  resolved  to 
ddiver  the  city  from  the  presence  of  the  besiegers  by  going  into  the 
camp  of  the  enemy  and  killing  Porsenna.  Through  a  mistake,  how- 
ever, he  slew  the  secretary  of  the  king  instead  of  the  king  himself.  He 
was  seized  and  brought  into  the  presence  of  Porsenna,  who  threatened 
him  with  punishment  by  fire  unless  he  made  a  full  disclosure  of  the 
Roman  plots.  Mucius,  to  show  the  king  how  little  he  could  be  moved 
by  threats,  thrust  his  right  hand  into  a  flame  that  was  near,  and  held  it 
there  unflinchingly  until  it  was  consumed.  Porsenna  was  so  impressed 
by  the  fortitude  of  the  youth,  that  he  dismissed  him  without  punisli- 
ment.  From  the  loss  of  his  right  hand,  Mucius  received  the  surnanu 
of  Scsevola ;  that  is.  The  Left-handed. 

The  sequel  of  the  story  is  that  Porsenna,  having  learned  from  Mudus 
that  three  hundred  Roman  youth  had  entered  into  a  vow  to  sacrifice 
themselves,  if  need  be,  in  order  to  compass  his  death,  made  a  treaty  ol 
peace  with  the  Romans  and  withdrew  his  army  from  before  their  city. 


THE   FIRST  CONSULS, 


21 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   EARLY   ROMAN  REPUBLIC:    CONQUEST  OF  ITALY. 

(509-264   B.C.) 

The  First  Consuls.— With  the  monarchy  overthrown  and  the 
last  king  and  his  house  banished  from  Rome,  the  people  set  to 
u'ork  to  reorganize  the  government.  In  place  of  the  king,  there 
were  elected  (by  the  comitia  ce?ituriata,  in  which  assembly  the 
plebeians  had  a  place)  two  patrician  magistrates,  called  consuls,^ 
u'ho  were  chosen  for  one  year,  and  were  invested  with  almost  all 
the  powers,  save  some  priestly  functions,  that  had  been  held  by 
the  monarch  during  the  regal  period. 

In  public  each  consul  was  attended  by  twelve  servants,  called 
hctors,  each  of  whom  bore  an  axe  bound  in  a  bundle  of  rods 
U^sces),  the  symbols  of  the  authority  of  the  consul  to  flog  and 
to  put  to  death.  Within  the  limits  of  the  city,  however,  the  axe 
must  be  removed  from  the  fasces,  by  which  was  indicated  that  no 
Roman  citizen  could  be  put  to  death  by  the  consuls  without  the 
consent  of  the  public  assembly.^ 

Lucius  Junius  Brutus  and  Tarquinius  Collatinus  were  the  first 
ronsuls  under  the  new  constitution.  But  it  is  said  that  the  very 
name  of  Tarquinius  was  so  intolerable  to  the  people  that  he  was 
torced  to  resign  the  consulship,  and  that  he  and  all  his  house  were 

1  That  is,  colleagues.  Each  consul  had  the  power  of  obstructing  the  acts  or 
vetoing  the  commands  of  the  other.  In  times  of  great  public  danger  the  con- 
suls  were  superseded  by  a  special  officer  called  a  dictator,  whose  term  of  office 
was  limited  to  six  months,  but  whose  power  during  this  time  was  as  unlimited 
as  that  of  the  kings  had  been. 

2  Each  consul  also  had  an  assistant  who  bore  the  name  of  quastor  The 
'luties  of  the  quaestor  were  at  first  chiefly  of  a  judicial  character,  but  later  they 
i>ecame  in  the  main  of  a  financial  nature. 


22 


THE  EARLY  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


THE   COVENANT  AND    THE    TRIBUNES. 


23 


driven  out  of  Rorae.^    Another  consul,  Publius  Valerius,  was  chosen 
in  his  stead. 

First  Secession  of  the  Plebeians  (494  b.c.).  — Taking  advan- 


II 

I 
I"  I 


LICTORS. 

tage  of  the  disorders  that  followed  the  political  revolution,  the 
Latin  towns  which  had  been  forced  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy 
of  Rome  rose  in  revolt,  and  the  result  was  that  almost  all  the  con- 

1  The  truth  is,  he  was  related  to  the  exiled  royal  family,  and  the  people  were 
distrustful  of  his  loyalty  to  the  republic. 


quests  that  had  been  made  under  the  kings  were  lost.     For  a  long 
time  the  litde  repubhc  had  to  struggle  hard  for  bare  existence.* 

Troubles  without  brought  troubles  within.  The  poor  plebeians, 
during  this  period  of  disorder  and  war,  fell  in  debt  to  the  wealthy 
class,  —  for  the  Roman  soldier  went  to  war  at  his  own  charge, 
equipping  and  feeding  himself,  •—  and  payment  was  exacted  with 
heartless  severity.  A  debtor  became  the  absolute  property  of  his 
creditor,  who  might  sell  him  as  a  slave  to  pay  the  debt,  and  in 
some  cases  even  put  him  to  death.^  AH  this  was  intolerable.  The 
plebeians  determined  to  secede  from  Rome  and  build  a  new  city 
for  themselves  on  a  neighboring  eminence,  called  afterwards  the 
Sacred  Hill.  They  marched  away  in  a  body  from  Rome  to  the 
chosen  spot,  and  began  making  preparations  for  erecting  new 
homes  (494  b.c). 

The  Covenant  and  the  Tribunes.  —The  patricians  saw  clearly 
that  such  a  division  must  prove  niinous  to  the  state,  and  that  the 
plebeians  must  be  persuaded  to  give  up  their  enterprise  and  come 
back  to  Rome.    The  consul  Valerius  was  sent  to  treat  with  the 

1  The  Romans  had  to  fight  both  the  Latins  and  the  Etruscans.  A  great 
victory  gained  by  the  Romans  at  Lake  Regillus,  496  B.C..  ended  the  war,  and 
secured  the  future  of  Rome. 

2  Livy  draws  the  following  picture  to  show  the  condition  of  the  poor 
debtor.  One  day  an  old  man,  pale  and  emaciated,  and  clothed  in  rags 
tottered  into  the  Forum.  To  those  that  crowded  about  him  to  inquire  the 
cause  of  his  misery,  he  related  this  tale :  While  he  had  been  away  serving  in 
the  Sabme  war,  the  crops  on  his  little  farm  had  been  destroyed  by  the  enemy 
IMS  house  burnt,  and  his  cattle  driven  off.  To  pay  his  taxes,  he  had  been 
t-rced  to  run  in  debt;   this  debt,  growing  continually  by  usury,  had  consumed 

'  rst  his  farm,  a  paternal  inheritance,  then  the  rest  of  his  substance,  and  at 
^  ngth  had  laid  hold  of  his  own  person.  He  had  been  thrown  into  prison  and 
>caten  with  stripes.  He  then  showed  the  bystanders  the  marks  of  scourging 
•pon  his  body,  and  at  the  same  time  displayed  the  scars  of  the  wounds  he  had 
•  ceived  in  battle.  Thereupon  a  great  tumult  arose,  and  the  people,  filled  with 
'  'lignation,  ran  together  from  all  sides  into  the  Forum.     H.  23. 

Compare  the  condition  of  the  Roman  debtors  with  that  of  the  same  class 
^t  Athens  before  the  reforms  of  Solon.     See  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece 
\'-  203. 


j^gajEt 


TffM  EARLY  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


THE   COVENANT  AND    THE    TRIBUNES. 


23 


firivcM  out  of  Rome.^    Another  consul,  Publi us  Valerius,  was  chosen 

ill'  his  stead. 

First  Secession  of  the  Pleheians  (494  b.c.).  — Taking  advan- 


'^y^.  'ittf*^* 


LICTORS. 


tage  <if  tie  disorders  that  followed  the  political  revolution,  the 
Latin  towns  which  had  been  forced  to  acknowledge  the  sui)remacy 
of  Rome  rose  in  revolt,  and  the  result  was  that  almost  all  the  con- 

^  «  Hie  tratli  is,  he  was  related  to  the  exiled  royal  family,  and  the  people  were 
liiitnislfiil  of  his  Wyalty  to  the  republic. 


quests  that  had  been  made  under  the  kings  were  lost.     For  a  long 
time  the  little  republic  had  to  struggle  hard  for  bare  existence.^ 

Troubles  without  brought  troubles  within.  The  poor  plebeians, 
during  this  period  of  disorder  and  war,  fell  in  debt  to  the  wealthy 
class,  ~  for  the  Roman  soldier  went  to  war  at  his  own  charge, 
equipping  and  feeding  himself,  —  and  payment  was  exacted  with 
heartless  severity.  A  debtor  became  the  absolute  property  of  his 
creditor,  who  might  sell  him  as  a  slave  to  pay  the  debt,  and  in 
some  cases  even  put  him  to  death.^  All  this  was  intolerable.  The 
plebeians  determined  to  secede  from  Rome  and  build  a  new  city 
for  themselves  on  a  neighboring  eminence,  called  afterwards  the 
Sacred  Hill.  They  marched  away  in  a  body  from  Rome  to  the 
chosen  spot,  and  began  making  preparations  for  erecting  new 
homes  (494  r.c). 

The  Covenant  and  the  Tribunes.  —The  patricians  saw  clearly 
that  such  a  division  must  i)rove  ruinous  to  the  state,  and  that  the 
plebeians  must  be  persuaded  to  give  up  their  enterprise  and  come 
back  to  Rome.     The  consul  Valerius  was  sent  to  treat  with  the 

1  The  Romans  had  to  fight  hoth  the  Latins  and  the  Etruscans.  A  great 
victory  gained  l)y  the  Romans  at  Lake  Regillus,  496  b.c..  ended  the  war]  and 
secured  the  future  of  Rome. 

2  Livy  draws  the  following  picture  to  show  the  condition  of  the  poor 
dehtor.  One  day  an  old  man,  pale  and  emaciated,  and  clothed  in  rags 
tottered  into  the  Forum.  To  those  that  crowded  ahout  him  to  inquire  the' 
-  ause  of  his  misery,  he  related  this  tale:  While  he  had  been  away  serving  in 
the  Sabine  war,  the  crops  on  his  little  farm  had  been  destroyed  by  the  enemy 
\m  house  burnt,  and  his  cattle  driven  off.  To  pay  his  taxes,  he  had  been 
i-rced  to  run  in  debt;   this  debt,  growing  continually  by  usury,  had  consumed 

rst  his  farm,  a  paternal  inheritance,  then  the  rest  of  his  substance,  and  at 
ngth  had  laid  hold  of  his  own  person.  He  had  l)een  thrown  into  prison  and 
aten  with  stripes.  He  then  showed  the  bystanders  the  marks  of  scourging 
,H)n  his  body,  and  at  the  same  time  displayed  the  scars  of  the  wounds  he  had 
'  uved  in  battle.  Thereupon  a  great  tumult  arose,  and  the  people,  filled  with 
Iignation,  ran  together  from  all  sides  into  the  Forum.  H.  23. 
Compare  the  condition  of  the  Roman  debtors  with  that  of  the  same  class 

Athens  before  the  reforms  of  Solon.     See  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece, 

I'l,  20  T. 


!l 


24 


THE  EARLY  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


CORTOLANUS. 


25 


insurgents.  The  plebeians  were  at  first  obstinate,  but  at  last  were 
persuaded  to  yield  to  the  entreaties  of  the  embassy  to  return, 
being  won  to  his  mind,  so  it  is  said,  by  one  of  the  wise  senators, 
Menenius,  who  made  use  of  the  well-known  fable  of  the  Body  and 
the  Members. 

The  following  covenant  was  entered  into,  and  bound  by  the 
most  solemn  oaths  and  vows  before  the  gods  :  The  debts  of  the 
poor  plebeians  were  to  be  cancelled,  and  those  held  in  slavery  set 
free ;  and  two  magistrates  (the  number  was  soon  increased  to 
ten),  called  tribunes,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  watch  over  the 
plebeians,  and  protect  them  against  the  injustice,  harshness,  and 
partiality  of  the  patrician  magistrates,  were  to  be  chosen  from  the 
commons.  The  persons  of  these  officers  were  made  sacred.  Any 
one  interrupting  a  tribune  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  or  doing 
him  any  violence,  was  declared  an  outlaw,  whom  any  one  might 
kill.  That  the  tribunes  might  be  always  easily  found,  they  were 
not  allowed  to  go  more  than  one  mile  beyond  the  city  walls. 
Their  houses  were  to  be  open  night  as  well  as  day,  that  any 
plebeian  unjustly  dealt  with  might  flee  thither  for  protection  and 
refuge. 

We  cannot  overestimate  the  importance  of  the  change  effected 
in  the  Roman  constitution  by  the  creation  of  this  office  of  the  trib- 
unate. Under  the  protection  and  leadership  of  the  tribunes,  who 
were  themselves  protected  by  oaths  of  inviolable  sanctity,  the  ple- 
beians carried  on  a  struggle  for  a  share  in  the  offices  and  dignities 
of  the  state  which  never  ceased  until  the  Roman  government,  as 
yet  only  republican  in  name,  became  in  fact  a  real  democracy,  in 
which  patrician  and  plebeian  shared  equally  in  all  emoluments  and 
privileges. 

Coriolanns.  —  The  tradition  of  Coriolanus  illustrates  in  what 
manner  the  tribunes  cared  for  the  rights  of  the  common  people 
and  protected  them  from  the  oppression  of  the  nobles.  During 
a  severe  famine  at  Rome,  Gelon,  the  king  of  Syracuse,  sent  large 
quantities  of  grain  to  the  capital  for  distribution  among  the  suffer- 
ing poor.    A  certain  patrician,  Coriolanus  by  name,  made  a  proposal 


that  none  of  the  grain  should  be  given  to  the  plebeians  save  on  con- 
dition that  they  gave  up  their  tribunes.  These  officials  straightway 
summoned  him  before  the  plebeian  assembly,^  on  the  charge  of 
having  broken  the  solemn  covenant  of  the  Sacred  Mount,  and  so 
bitter  was  the  feeling  against  him  that  he  was  obliged  to  flee  from 
Rome. 

He  now  alHed  himself  with  the  Volscians,^  enemies  of  Rome, 
and  even  led  their  armies  against  his  native  city.  An  embassy 
from  the  Senate  was  sent  to  him,  to  sue  for  peace.  But  the  spirit 
of  Coriolanus  was  bitter  and  revengeful,  and  he  would  listen  to 
none  of  their  proposals.  Nothing  availed  to  move  him  until  his 
mother,  at  the  head  of  a  train  of  Roman  matrons,  came  to  his 
tent,  and  with  tears  pleaded  with  him  to  spare  the  city.  Her 
entreaties  and  the  "  soft  prayers  "  of  his  own  wife  and  children 
I)revailed,  and  with  the  words,  "  Mother,  thou  hast  saved  Rome, 
l)ut  lost  thy  son,"  he  led  away  the  Volscian  army. 

Cincinnatus  made  Dictator.  —  The  enemies  of  Rome,  taking 
advantage  of  the  dissensions  of  the  nobles  and  commons,  pressed 
upon  the  frontiers  of  the  republic  on  all  sides.  In  458  b.c,  the 
-luiuians,  while  one  of  the  consuls  was  away  fighting  the  Sabines, 
defeated  the  forces  of  the  other,  and  shut  them  up  in  a  narrow 
valley,  whence  escape  seemed  impossible.  There  was  great  terror 
in  Rome  when  news  of  the  situation  of  the  army  was  brought  to 
the  city. 

The  Senate  immediately  appointed  Cincinnatus,  a  grand  old 
r-atrician,  dictator.     The  ambassadors  that  carried  to  him  the  mes- 

^  This  «as  the  Concilium  Tributum  Plebis,  an  assembly  which  was  estab- 

^^hed  471  B.C.,  by  what  is  known  as  the  Publilian  Law.     It  was  made  up 

'H.lly  of  plebeians,  and  was  presided  over  by  the  tribunes.     Later,  there  came 

:  >  existence  another  tril,al  assembly,  which  was  composed  of  patricians  and 

-  beians,  and  presided  over  by  consuls  or  praetors.  Some  authorities  are  in- 
"cd  to  regard  these  two  assemblies  as  one  and  the  same  body;  but  others, 
long  whom  is  Mommsen,  with  probably  better  reason,  look  upon  them  as 

'    >  distinct  organizations. 

-  For  the  location  of  the  Volscians,  the  ^quians,  and  the  other  enemies  of 
:ne  during  this  period,  see  map,  p.  29. 


i' 


26 


THE  EARL  Y  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


THE  DECEMVIRS. 


27 


liJ 


sage  from  the  Senate  found  him  upon  his  little  farm  near  the  Tiber, 
at  work  behind  the  plough.  Accepting  the  office  at  once,  he  hastily 
gathered  an  army,  marched  to  the  relief  of  the  consul,  captured 
the  entire  army  of  the  ^quians,  and  sent  them  beneath  the  yoke.^ 
Cincinnatus  then  led  his  army  back  to  Rome  in  triumph,  laid 
down  his  office,  and  sought  again  the  retirement  of  his  farm. 

The  Decemvirs  and  the  Tables  of  Laws.  —  Written  laws  are 
always  a  great  safeguard  against  oppression.  Until  what  shall 
constitute  a  crime  and  what  shall  be  its  penalty  are  clearly  written 
down,  and  well  known  and  understood  by  all,  judges  may  render 
unfair  decisions,  or  inflict  unjust  punishment,  and  yet  run  lit- 
tle risk — unless  they  go  altogether  too  far  — of  being  called  to 
an  account;  for  no  one  but  themselves  knows  what  the  law  or 
the  penalty  really  is.  Hence  in  all  struggles  of  the  people  against 
the  tyranny  of  the  ruling  class,  the  demand  for  written  laws  is  one 
of  the  first  measures  taken  by  the  people  for  the  protection  of 
their  persons  and  property.  Thus  we  have  seen  the  people  of 
Athens,  early  in  their  stniggle  with  the  nobles,  demanding  and 
obtaining  a  code  of  written  laws.^  The  same  thing  now  took  place 
at  Rome.  The  plebeians  demanded  that  a  code  of  laws  be  drawn 
up,  in  accordance  with  which  the  consuls,  who  exercised  judicial 
powers,  should  render  their  decisions.  The  patricians  offered  a 
stubborn  resistance  to  their  wishes,  but  finally  were  forced  to  yield 
to  the  popular  clamor. 

A  commission  was  sent  to  the  Greek  cities  of  Southern  Italv 
and  to  Athens  to  study  the  Grecian  laws  and  customs.  Upon  the 
return  of  this  embassy,  a  commission  of  ten  magistrates,  who  were 
known  as  decemvirs,  was  appointed  to  frame  a  code  of  laws 
(451  B.C.).  These  officers,  while  engaged  in  this  work,  were  also 
to  administer  the  entire  government,  and  so  were  invested  with 
the  supreme  power  of  the  state.    The  patricians  gave  up  their 

^  This  was  formed  of  two  spears  thrust  firmly  into  the  ground  and  crossed 
a  few  feet  from  the  earth  by  a  third.  Prisoners  of  war  were  forced  to  pass 
beneath  this  yoke  as  a  symbol  of  submission. 

^  See  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece^  pp.  201,  203. 


consuls  and  the  plebeians  their  tribunes.  At  the  end  of  the  first 
year,  the  task  of  the  board  was  quite  far  from  being  finished,  so 
a  new  decemvirate  was  elected  to  complete  the  work.  Appius 
Claudius  was  the  only  member  of  the  old  board  that  was  returned 
to  the  new. 

The  code  was  soon  finished,  and  the  laws  were  written  on 
twelve  tablets  of  bronze,  which  were  fastened  to  the  Rostra,  or 
orator's  platform  in  the  Forum,  where  they  might  be  seen  and 
read  by  all.  These  "  Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  "  were  to  Roman 
jurisprudence  what  the  good  laws  of  Solon  ^  were  to  the  Athenian 
constitution.  They  formed  the  basis  of  all  new  legislation  for 
many  centuries,  and  constituted  a  part  of  the  education  of  the 
Roman  youth  —  every  school-boy  being  required  to  learn  them  by 
heart. 

Especially  influential  were  the  Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  in 
helping  to  establish  social  and  civil  equality  between  the  patricians 
and  plebeians.  They  tended  to  efface  the  social  distinctions  that 
had  hitherto  existed  between  the  two  orders,  and  helped  to  draw 
them  together  into  a  single  people ;  for  up  to  this  time  the  rela- 
tions of  the  plebeians  to  the  patricians,  notwithstanding  the  reforms 
of  Servius  Tullius,  had  been  rather  those  of  foreigners  than  of 
fellow-citizens.^  ' 

^  See  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece^  p.  203. 

2  For  illustration,  up  to  this  time  the  plebeians  had  not  been  allowed  to 
intermarry  with  the  patricians.  This  was  in  strict  accord  with  the  general  rule 
among  the  ancients,  that  the  citizens  of  one  city  should  have  no  social  dealings 
with  those  of  another.  Only  a  few  years,  however,  after  the  drawing  up  of  the 
mIc,  and  owing  in  part  at  least  to  its  influence,  a  law  known,  from  the  tribune 
f  Gaius  Canuleius)  who  secured  its  passage,  as  the  Canuleian  Law,  gave  the 
i  lebeians  the  right  to  intermarry  with  the  patricians.  There  was  now  civil  and 
social  equality  established  between  the  two  orders.  The  plebeians  next  engaged 
I  a  struggle  for  political  rights  and  political  equality  (see  p.  34).  These  long 
-  ntests  carried  on  by  the  plebeians  for  civil,  social,  and  political  rights,  and 
t'leir  gradual  admission  to  the  privileges  from  which  they  had  been  excluded, 
•:uy  be  well  illustrated  by  the  case  of  the  freedmen  among  us,  who,  by  the 
'fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amendments  to  our  Constitution,  were  admitted  first 
!    the  civil  and  then  to  the  political  rights  and  privileges  of  American  citizens. 


28 


THE  EARLY  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


ft 


Misrule  and  Overtlirow  of  the  Becemvirs.  —The  first  decem- 
virs used  the  great  power  lodged  in  their  hands  with  justice  and 
prudence ;  but  the  second  board,  under  the  leadership  of  Appius 
Claudius,  instituted  a  most  infamous  and  tyrannical  rule.     No 
man*s  life  was  safe,  be  he  patrician  or  plebeian.     An  ex-tribune 
daring  to  denounce  the  course  of  the  decemvirs,  was  caused  by 
them  to  be  assassinated.     Another  act,  even  more  outrageous  than 
this,  filled  to  the  brim  the  cup  of  their  iniquities.     Virginia  was 
the  beautiful  daughter  of  a  plebeian,  and  Appius  Claudius,  desiring 
to  gain  possession  of  her,  made  use  of  his  authority  as  a  judge  to 
pronounce  her  a  slave.     The  father  of  the  maiden,  preferring  the 
death  of  his  daughter  to  her  dishonor,  killed  her  with  his  own 
hand.     Then,  drawing  the  weapon  from  her  breast,  he  hastened 
to  the  army,  which  was  resisting  a  united  invasion  of  the  Sabines 
and  ^quians,  and,  exhibiting  the  bloody  knife,  told  the  story  of 
the  outrage.^    The  soldiers  rose  as  a  single  man  and  hurried  to  the 
city.    The  excitement  resulted  in  a  great  body  of  the  Romans, 
soldiers  and  citizens,  probably  chiefly  plebeians,  seceding  from  the 
state,  and  marching  away  to  the  Sacred  Hill.     This  procedure, 
which  once  before  had  proved  so  effectual  in  securing  justice  to 
the  oppressed,  had  a  similar  issue  now.     The  situation  was  so 
critical  that  the  decemvirs  were  forced  to  resign.     The  consulate 
and  the  tribunate  were  restored.     Eight  of  the  decemvirs  were 
forced  to  go  into  exile;  Appius  Claudius  and  one  other,  having 
been  imprisoned,  committed  suicide  (450  b.c). 

Consular,  or  Military  Tribunes.  —The  overthrow  of  the  decem- 
virate  was  followed  by  a  bitter  struggle  between  the  nobles  and  the 
commons,  which  was  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  latter  to  gain 
admission  to  the  consulship ;  for  up  to  this  time  only  a  patrician 
could  hold  that  office.  The  contention  resulted  in  a  compromise. 
It  was  agreed  that,  in  place  of  the  two  consuls,  the  people  might 
elect  from  either  order  magistrates  that  should  be  known  as 

»  Livy.  m.  44-50.  This  tale  is  possibly  mythical,  but  it  at  least  gives  a 
▼ivid,  and  doubtless  truthful,  picture  of  the  times. 


THE  AGER  ROMATHIS  AND  THE  LATIN  CONFEDERACY 

In  the  time  of  the  early  Republic,  about  B.C.  450. 


f 


SCALE   OF  MILES 


3: 


10 


Tht  Agtr  RomanvM, 

The  Latin  Confederacy. 

The  original  domain  qf  the  city  of  Rome. 


90 


1.  The  Paaa  Qf  Algidua. 

2.  The  Alban  Mount, 
8»  Mount  Soracte, 


30 


THE  EARLY  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


SIEGE  AND   CAPTURE   OF  VEIL 


31 


II 


"  military  tribunes  with  consular  powers."  These  officers,  whose 
number  varied,  differed  from  consuls  more  in  name  than  in  func- 
tions or  authority.  In  fact,  the  plebeians  had  gained  the  office, 
but  not  the  name^  (444  b.c). 

The  Censors.  —  No  sooner  had  the  plebeians  secured  the  right 
of  admission  to  the  tribunate  with  consular  powers,  than  the  jeal- 
ous and  exclusive  patricians  began  scheming  to  rob  them  of  the 
fniit  of  the  victory  they  had  gained.  They  effected  this  by  taking 
from  the  consulate  some  of  its  most  distinctive  duties  and  powers, 
and  conferring  them  upon  two  new  patrician  officers  called  censors. 
The  functions  of  these  magistrates  were  many  and  important. 
They  took  the  census,  and  thus  assigned  to  every  man  his  position 
in  the  different  classes  of  the  citizens ;  and  they  could,  for  immo- 
rality or  any  improper  conduct,  not  only  degrade  a  man  from  his 
rank,  but  deprive  him  of  his  vote.  It  was  their  duty  to  watch  the 
public  morals  and  in  case  of  necessity  to  administer  wholesome 
advice.  Thus  we  are  told  of  their  reproving  the  Roman  youths 
for  wearing  tunics  with  long  sleeves  —  an  Oriental  and  effeminate 
custom  —  and  for  neglecting  to  marry  upon  arriving  at  a  proper 
age.  From  the  name  of  these  Roman  officers  coires  our  word 
censorious^  meaning  fault-finding. 

The  first  censors  were  elected  probably  in  the  year  444  B.C. : 
about  one  hundred  years  afterwards,  in  351  n.c,  the  plebeians 
secured  the  right  of  holding  this  office  also. 

Siege  and  Capture  of  Veil.  — We  must  now  turn  our  attention 
to  the  fortunes  of  Rome  in  war.  Almost  from  the  founding  of  the 
city,  we  find  its  warlike  citizens  carrying  on  a  fierce  contest  with  their 
powerful  Etruscan  neighbors  on  the  north.     Veii  was  one  of  the 

1  The  patricians  were  especially  unwilling  that  the  plebeians  should  receive 
the  name,  for  the  reason  that  an  ex-consul  enjoyed  certain  dignities  and  hon- 
ors, such  as  the  right  to  wear  a  particular  kind  of  dress  and  to  set  up  in  his 
house  images  of  his  ancestors.  These  honorary  distinctions  the  higher  order 
were  jealous  of  retaining  exclusively  for  themselves.  Owing  to  the  great  influ- 
ence of  the  patricians  in  the  elections,  it  was  not  until  about  400  B.C.  that  a 
plebeian  was  chosen  to  the  new  office. 


largest  and  richest  of  the  cities  of  Etruria.     Around  this  the  war 
gathered.      The  Romans,  like  the  Grecians 
at  Troy,   attacked   its   walls   for   ten   years. 
The  length  of  the  siege,  and  the  necessity  of 
maintaining  a  force  permanently  in  the  field, 
led  to  the  establishment  of  a  paid  standing 
army ;  for  hitherto  the  soldier  had  not  only 
equipped    himself,  but   had  served  without 
pay.     Thus  was  laid  the  basis  of  that  mili- 
tary power  which  was  destined  to  effect  the 
conquest  of  the  world,  and  then,  in  the  hands 
(jf  ambitious  and  favorite  generals,  to  over- 
throw the  republic  itself. 
The  capture  of  Veii  by  the  dictator  Ca- 

millus  (396  B.C.)  was   followed   by  that   of  

many  other    Etruscan    towns.      Rome   was     etruscan  archer 
enriched  by  their  spoils,  and  became  the  centre  of  a  large  and 
lucrative  trade.     The  frontiers  of  the  republic  were  pushed  out 

even  beyond  the  utmost  limits  of  the 
kingdom  before  its  overthrow.^  All 
that  was  lost  by  the  revolution  had 
been  now  regained,  and  much  besides 
had  been  won.  At  this  moment  there 
broke  upon  the  city  a  storm  from  the 
north,  which  all  but  cut  short  the  story 
we  are  narrating. 

Sack  of  Rome  by  the  Gauls  (390 
B.C.) .  —  We   have   already  mentioned 

1  Trace  the  gradual  growth  of  the  Roman 

■^  domain  {Ager  Romanus)   by   a   comparative 

^  study   of    the    sketch-maps    on    pp.    29,   36, 

57.     Note,  also,  the  increase  in  the  number  of 

Latin  colonies  between  the  dissolution  of  the 

Latin  Confederacy  (see  p.  38)  and  the  Second 

ROMAN  SOLDIER.  Punic  War,  as  shown  by  the  last  two  maps. 


32 


THE  EARLY  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


THE   SACKING    OF  ROME. 


33 


i 


1 1 


how,  in  very  remote  times,  the  tribes  of  Gaul  crossed  the  Alps 
and  established  themselves  in  Northern  Italy  (see  p.  3).  While 
the  Romans  were  conquering  the  towns  of  Etruria,  these  barbarian 
hordes  were  moving  southward,  and  overrunning  and  devastating 
the  countries  of  Central  Italy. 

News  was  brought  to  Rome  that  they  were  advancing  upon  that 
city.  A  Roman  army  met  them  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Allia, 
eleven  miles  from  the  capital.  The  Romans  were  driven  in  great 
panic  from  the  field.  It  would  be  impossible  to  picture  the  con- 
sternation and  despair  that  reigned  at  Rome  when  the  fugitives 
brought  to  the  city  intelligence  of  the  terrible  disaster.  It  was 
never  forgotten,  and  the  day  of  the  battle  of  the  Allia  was  ever 
after  a  black  day  in  the  Roman  calendar.  The  sacred  vessels 
of  the  temples  were  buried ;  the  eternal  fires  of  Vesta  were  hur- 
riedly borne  by  their  virgin  keepers  to  a  place  of  safety  in 
Etruria ;  and  a  large  part  of  the  population  fled  in  dismay  across 
the  Tiber.  No  attempt  was  made  to  defend  any  portion  of  the 
city  save  the  citadel. 

When  the  Gauls  entered  the  city  they  found  ever)'thing 
abandoned  to  them.  The  aged  senators,  so  the  Romans  after- 
wards proudly  related,  thinking  it  unworthy  of  their  office  to 
seek  safety  in  flight,  resolved  to  meet  death  in  a  befitting  way. 
Arrayed  in  their  robes  of  office,  each  with  his  ivory-headed  wand 
in  his  hand,  they  seated  themselves  in  the  Forum,  in  their  chairs 
of  state,  and  there  sat,  "  silent  and  motionless  as  statues,"  while 
the  barbarians  were  carrying  on  their  work  of  sack  and  pillage 
about  them.  The  rude  Gauls,  arrested  by  the  venerable  aspect 
of  the  white-haired  senators,  gazed  in  awe  upon  them,  and  ofl'ered 
them  no  violence.  But  finally  one  of  the  barbarians  laid  his 
hand  upon  the  beard  of  the  venerable  Papirius,  to  stroke  it  under 
an  impulse  of  childlike  reverence.  The  aged  senator,  interpreting 
the  movement  as  an  insult,  struck  the  Gaul  with  his  sceptre.  The 
spell  was  instantly  broken.  The  enraged  barbarians  struck 
Papirius  from  his  seat,  and  then  falling  upon  the  other  senators 
massacred  them  all 


The  little  garrison  within  the  Capitol,  under  the  command 
of  the  hero  Manlius,  for  seven  months  resisted  all  the  efforts  of 
the  Gauls  to  dislodge  them.  A  tradition  tells  how,  when  the 
barbarians,  under  cover  of  the  darkness  of  night,  had  climbed 
the  steep  rock,  and  had  almost  effected  an  entrance  to  the 
( itadel,  the  defenders  were  awakened  by  the  cackling  of  some 
^^eese,  which  the  piety  of  the  famishing  soldiers  had  spared, 
because  these  birds  were  sacred  to  Juno. 

News  was  now  brought  the  Gauls  that  the  Venetians  were  over- 
running their  possessions  in  Northern  Italy.     This  led  them  to 
open  negotiations  with  the  Romans.     For  one  thousand  pounds  of 
j(ol(l,  according  to  the  historian  Livy,  the  Gauls  agreed  to  retire 
from  the  city.    As  the  story  runs,  while  the  gold  was  being  weighed 
out  in  the  Forum,  the  Romans  complained  that  the  weights  were 
false,  when  Brennus,  the  Gallic  leader,  threw  his  sword  also  into 
the  scales,  exclaiming,  "T.^   r/V//V/""Woe  to  the  vanquished." 
just  at  this  moment,  so  the  tale  continues,  Camillus,  a  brave  patri- 
nan  general,  appeared  upon  the  scene  with  a  Roman  army  that 
had  been  gathered  from  the  fugitives ;  and,  as  he  scattered  the 
barbarians  with  heavy  blows,  he  exclaimed,  "Rome  is  ransomed 
u  ith  steel,  and  not  with  gold."    According  to  one  account  Brennus 
Inmself  was  taken  prisoner;    but  another  tradition  says  that  he 
escaped,  carrying  with  him  not  only  the  ransom,  but  a  vast  booty 
i  csides. 

The  Rebuilding  of  Rome.  —  When  the  fugitives  returned  to 

:<ome  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  Gauls,  they  found  the  city  a 

'•ap  of  ruins.     Some  of  the  poorer  classes,  shrinking  from  the 

•or  of  rebuilding  their  old  homes,  proposed  to  abandon  the  site 
nd  make  Veii  their  new  capital.  But  love  for  the  old  spot  at 
St  prevailed  overall  the  persuasions  of  indolence,  and  the  people, 
th  admirable  courage,  set  themselves  to  the  task  of  rebuilding 
cir  homes.  It  was  a  repetition  of  the  scene  at  Athens  after  the 
treat  of  the  Persians.^     The  city  was  speedily  restored,  and  was 

*  See  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece,  p.  225. 


34 


THE  EARLY  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


PLEBEIANS  ADMITTED    TO    THE    CONSULSHIP. 


35 


II 


If' 


soon  enjoying  her  old  position  of  supremacy  among  the  sur- 
rounding states.  There  were  some  things,  however,  which  even 
Roman  resolution  and  energy  could  not  restore.  These  were  the 
ancient  records  and  documents,  through  whose  irreparable  loss 
the  early  history  of  Rome  is  involved  in  great  obscurity  and 
uncertainty. 

Treason  and  Death  of  Manlius.— The  ravages  of  the  Gauls 
left  the  poor  plebeians  in  a  most  pitiable  condition.  In  order  to 
rebuild  their  dwellings  and  restock  their  farms,  they  were  obliged 
to  borrow  money  of  the  rich  patricians,  and  consequently  soon 
began  again  to  experience  the  insult  and  oppression  that  were  ever 
incident  to  the  condition  of  the  debtor  class  at  Rome. 

The  patrician  Manlius,  the  hero  of  the  brave  defence  of  the 
Capitol,  now  came  forward  as  the  champion  of  the  plebeians.  He 
sold  the  larger  part  of  his  estates,  and  devoted  the  proceeds  to 
the  relief  of  the  debtor  class.  It  seems  evident  that  in  thus  under- 
taking the  cause  of  the  commons  he  had  personal  aims  and  ambi- 
tions. The  patricians  determined  to  crush  him.  He  was  finally 
brought  to  trial  before  the  popular  assembly,  on  the  charge  of 
conspiring  to  restore  the  office  of  king.  From  the  Forum,  where 
the  people  were  gathered,  the  Capitol,  which  Manlius  had  so 
bravely  defended  against  the  barbarians,  was  in  full  sight.  Point- 
ing to  the  temples  he  had  saved,  he  appealed  to  the  gods  and  to 
the  gratitude  of  the  Roman  people.  The  people  responded  to  the 
appeal  in  a  way  altogether  natural.  They  refused  to  condemn  him. 
But  brought  to  trial  a  second  time,  and  now  in  a  grove  whence 
the  citadel  could  not  be  seen,  he  was  sentenced  to  death,  and  was 
thrown  from  the  Tarpeian  Rock.*     This  event  occurred  384  b.c. 

Plebeians  admitted  to  the  Consulship.  —  For  nearly  half  a  cen 
tury  after  the  death  of  Manlius  the  most  important  events  in  the 

'  The  Tarpeian  Rock  was  the  name  given  to  the  cliff  which  the  Capitolinc 
Hill  formed  on  the  side  towards  the  Tiber  (or  towards  the  Palatine,  according 
to  some).     It  received  its  name  from  Tarpeia,  daughter  of  one  of  the  legen 
dary  keepers  of  the  citadel.     State   criminals  were   frequently  executed  b' 
being  thrown  from  this  rock. 


history  of  Rome  centre  about  the  struggle  of  the  plebeians  for 
ailraission  to  those  offices  of  the  government  whence  the  jealousy 
of  the  patricians  still  excluded  them.    The  I  jcinian  Laws,  so  called 
from  one  of  their  proposers,  the  tribune  C.  Licinius,  besides  reliev- 
mg  the  poor  of  usurious  interest,  and  effecting  a  more  just  division 
of  the  public  lands,  also  provided  that  consuls  should  be  chosen 
yearly,  as  at  first  (see  p.  28),  and  that  one  of  the  consuls  should 
be  a  plebeian.     This  last  provision  opened  to  any  one  of  the  ple- 
beian class  the  highest  office  in  the  state.     The  nobles,  when  they 
saw  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  resist  the  popular  demand  had 
recourse  to  the  old  device.     They  effected  a  compromise,  whereby 
the  judicial  powers  of  the  consuls  were  taken  from  them  and  con- 
ferred upon  a  new  magistrate,  who  bore  the  name  of  prcetor 
Only  patricians,  of  course,  were  to  be  eligible  to  tliis  new  office" 
They  then  permitted  the  Licinian  Laws  to  pass  (367  is  c  ) 

During  the  latter  half  of  the  fourth  century  b.c.  (between  the 
years  356-300)  the  plebeians  gained  admittance  to  the  dictator- 
ship, the  censorship,  the  prstorship,  and  to  the  College  of  Augurs 
and  the  College  of  Pontiffs.     They  had  been  admitted  to  the 
College  of  Priests  having  charge  of  the  Sibylline  books,  at  the  time 
uf  the  passing  of  the  Licinian  Laws.     With  j.lebeians  in  all  these 
positions,  the  rights  of  the  lower  order  were  fairly  secured  against 
oppressive  and  partisan  decisions  on  the  part  of  the  magistrates 
and  against  party  fraud  in  the  taking  of  the  auspices  and  in  the 
r.jtulation   of  the   calendar.     There  was   now  political   equality 
A^tween  the  nobility  and  the  commonalty. 

Wars  kor  the  Mastkrv  of  Italy. 

The  First  Samnite  War  (343-341  B.c.).-The  union  of  the  two 

lersmthe  state  allowed  the  Romans  now  to  employ  their  un- 

.  ided  strength  in  subjugating  the  different  states  of  the  peninsula 

"'-  most  formidable  competitors  of  the  Romans  for  supremacy  in 

ly  were  the  Samnites,  rough  and  warlike  mountaineers  who  held 

Apennines  to  the  east  of  Latium.     They  were  worthy  rivals  of 


1    '  1 


I 


REVOLT  OF  THE  LATIN  CITIES. 


n 


the  "  Children  of  Mars."  The  successive  struggles  between  these 
martial  races  are  known  as  the  First,  Second,  and  Third  Samnite 
wars.  They  extended  over  a  period  of  half  a  century,  and  in  their 
course  involved  almost  all  the  states  of  Italy. 

Oi  the  first  of  this  series  of  wars  we  know  very  little,  although 
Livy  wrote  a  long,  but  unfortunately  very  unreliable,  narration  of 
It.  In  the  midst  of  the  struggle,  Rome  was  confronted  by  a  dan- 
gerous revolt  of  her  Latin 
allies,  and,  leaving  the  war 
unfinished,  turned  her 
forces  upon  the  insur- 
gents. 

Revolt   of   the  Latin 
Cities  (340-338  B.C.).— 
The    strife    between    the 
Romans  and  their  Latin 
allies  was  simply  the  old 
contest  within  the  walls  of 
the   capital   between  the 
I'atricians    and    the    ple- 
l>eians    transferred   to    a 
larger  arena.     As  the  no- 
I'les   had   oppressed   the 
commons,    so    now   both 
'iiese  orders  united  in  the 
'  ppression  of  the  Latins 
;    the  i)lebeians  in  their 
'    itered      circumstances 
'  'getting  the  lessons  of 

ersity.     The  Latin  al- 


ei 


SAMNITE   WARRIOR.     (From  a  Vase.) 


a--:  1 


demanded  a  share  in  the  government,  and  that  the  lands 
mred  by  conquest  should  be  distributed  among  them  as  well 
miong  Roman  citizens.     The  Romans  refused.     All  Latium 

m  revolt  against  the  injustice  and  tyranny  of  the  oppressor. 
\fter  about  three  years'  hard  fighting,  the  rebellion  was  sub- 


'ggM^^^ 


38 


THE  EARLY  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


WAR    WITH  PYRRHUS, 


39 


dued.  The  Latin  League  was  now  broken  up.  Four  of  the 
towns  *  retained  their  independence ;  the  others,  however,  were 
made  a  part  of  the  Roman  domain.  The  inhabitants  of  some  of 
these  latter  cities  were  admitted  to  full  Roman  citizenship,  but 
those  of  the  remainder  were  reduced  virtually  to  the  condition  of 
subjects.-  Rome,  in  a  word,  had  converted  the  confederacy  into 
an  empire,  just  as  Athens  a  hundred  years  earlier  converted  the 
Delian  League  into  an  imperial  domain.^ 

Second  and  Third  Samnite  Wars  (326-290  p..c.).  —  In  a  few 
years  after  the  close  of  the  Latin  contest,  the  Romans  were  at  war 
again  with  their  old  rivals,  the  Samnites.  Notwithstanding  the 
latter  were  thoroughly  defeated  in  this  second  contest,  still  it  was 
not  long  before  they  were  again  in  arms  and  engaged  in  their  third 
struggle  with  Rome.  This  time  they  had  formed  a  powerful  co- 
alition which  embraced  the  Etmscans,  the  Umbrians,  the  Gauls, 
and  other  nations. 

Roman  courage  rose  with  the  danger.  The  united  armies  of 
the  league  met  with  a  most  disastrous  defeat  (at  Sentinum,  295 
EX.),  and  the  power  of  the  coalition  was  broken.  One  after  an- 
other the  states  that  had  joined  the  alliance  were  chastised.  The 
Gauls  were  routed,  the  Etruscans  were  cnished,  and  the  Samnites 
were  forced  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  Rome.  A  few 
years  later,  almost  all  of  the  Greek  cities  of  Southern  Italy,  save 
Tarentum,  also  came  under  the  growing  power  of  the  imperial 
city. 

War  with  Pyrrhus  (282-272  ii.c-.).  —  Tarentum  was  one  of  the 
most  noted  of  the  Hellenic  cities  of  Magna  Grrecia.     It  was  a 

^  Tibur,  Prneneste,  Cora,  and  Laurentum.     Compare  maps  on  pp.  29  and  36. 

2  They  retained,  however,  the  right  of  managing  their  own  local  affairs. 
"A  town  annexed  to  Rome  on  these  terms,  losing  its  sovereignty  and  becom- 
ing a  part  of  the  Roman  state,  hut  retaining  self-government  in  local  concerns, 
was  called  a  municipiiim.  This  device,  the  mituicipality^  for  combining  local 
self-government  with  imperial  relations,  is  the  most  important  contribution 
made  by  Rome  to  political  science." — Allen's  Short  History  of  the  Roman 
People^  p.  82.  3  See  Eastern  Xaiions  and  Greece^  p.  230. 


seaport  on  the  Calabrian  coast,  and  had  grown  opulent  through 
the   extended   trade   of  its   merchants.      The  capture   of  some 
Roman  vessels,  and  an  insult  offered  to  an  envoy  of  the  republic 
by  the  Tarentines,  led  to  a  declaration  of  war  against  them  by  the 
Roman   Senate.    The  Tarentines    turned    to    Greece    for    aid. 
Pyrrhus,  king  of  Epirus,  cousin  of  Alexander  the  Great,  who  had 
an  ambition  to  build  up  such  an  empire  in  the  West  as  his  famous 
kinsman  had  established  in  the  East,  responded  to  their  entreaties, 
and  crossed  over  into  Italy  with  a  small  army  of  Greek  merce- 
naries and  twenty  war  elephants.     He  organized  and  drilled  the 
effeminate  Tarentines,  and  soon  felt  prepared  to  face  the  Romans. 
The  hostile  armies  met  at  Heraclea  (280  b.c).     It  is  said  that 
when  Pyrrhus,  who  had  underestimated  his  foe,  observed  the  skill 
which  the  Romans  evinced  in  forming  their  lines  of  battle,  he 
exclaimed,  in  admiration,  "In  war,  at  least,  these  men  are 'not 
barbarians."     The  battle  was  won  for  Pyrrhus  by  his  war  ele- 
phants, the  sight  of  which,   being  new  to  the  Romans,  caused 
them  to  flee  from  the  field   in  dismay.     But   Pyrrhus  had   lost 
thousands  of  his  bravest  troops.     Victories  gained  by  such  losses 
in  a  country  where  he  could  not  recruit  his  army,  he  saw  clearly, 
meant  final  defeat.     As  he  looked  over  the  battle-field  he  is  said 
to  have  turned  to  his  companions  and  remarked,  '\  Another  such 
victory  and  I  must  return  to  Epinis  alone."     He  noticed   also, 
:md  not  without  appreciating  its  significance,  that  the  wounds  of 
the  Roman  soldiers  killed  in  the  action  were  all  in  front.     "  Had 
f   such   soldiers,"  said   he,  "I   should   soon   be   master  of  the 
world."  ^ 

The   prudence  of  the  victorious  Pyrrhus  led  him  to  send  to 

tiie  Romans  proposals  of  peace.     The  embassy  was  headed  by 

f    '^'s  chief  minister,  Cineas,  of  whom  Pyrrhus  himself  often  said, 

•  rhe  eloquence  of  Cineas  wins  me  more  victories  than  my  sword." 

^  Beneath  the  spoils  which  he  hung  as  an  oflFering  in  the  Temple  of  Jupiter 
'  arentum  he  placed  this  inscription :  — 

"  Those  that  had  never  been  vanquished  yet,  Great  Father  of  Olympus, 
Those  have  I  vanquished  in  the  fight,  and  they  have  vanquished  me." 


40 


THE  EARL  V  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


WAR    WITH  PYRRHUS. 


41 


When  the  Senate  hesitated,  its  resolution  was  fixed  by  the  elo- 
quence of  the  aged  Appius  Claudius :  "  Rome/'  exclaimed  he, 
"shall  never  treat  with  a  victorious  foe."  The  ambassadors  were 
obliged  to  return  to  Pyrrhus  unsuccessful  in  their  mission.  It  was 
at  this  time  that  Cineas,  in  answer  to  some  inquiries  of  his  master 
respecting  the  Romans,  drew  the  celebrated  parallels  that  likened 
their  Senate  to  an  assembly  of  kings,  and  war  against  such  a 
people  to  an  attack  upon  another  Hydra. 

Pyrrhus,  according  to  the  Roman  story-tellers,  who  most  lav- 
ishly embellished  this  chapter  of  their  history,  was  not  more 
successful  in  attempts  at  bribery  than  in  the  arts  of  negotiation. 
Attempting  by  large  offers  of  gold  to  win  Fabricius,  who  had  been 
intrusted  by  the  Senate  with  an  important  embassy,  the  sturdy 
old  Roman  replied,  "  Poverty,  with  an  honest  name,  is  more  to 
be  desired  than  wealth." 

Another  story  relates  how,  when  the  physician  of  Pyrrhus  went 
to  Fabricius  and  offered  to  poison  his  enemy,  Fabricius  instantly 
put  the  perfidious  man  in  chains,  and  sent  him  back  to  his  master 
for  punishment.  The  sequel  of  this  story  is  that  Pyrrhus  con- 
ceived such  an  exalted  opinion  of  the  Roman  sense  of  honor  that 
he  permitted  the  prisoners  in  his  hands  to  go  to  the  capital  to 
attend  a  festival,  with  no  other  security  for  their  return  than  their 
simple  promise,  and  that  not  a  single  man  broke  his  word. 

After  a  second  victory,  as  disastrous  as  his  first,  Pyrrhus  crossed 
over  into  Sicily,  to  aid  the  Grecians  there  in  their  struggle  with 
the  Carthaginians.  At  first  he  was  everywhere  successful;  but 
finally  fortune  turned  against  him,  and  he  was  glad  to  escape  from 
the  island.  Recrossing  the  straits  into  Italy,  he  once  more  en- 
gaged the  Romans,  but  at  the  battle  of  Beneventum  suffered  a 
disastrous  and  final  defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  consul  Curius  Den- 
tatus  (274  B.C.).  Leaving  a  sufficient  force  to  garrison  Tarentum, 
the  baffled  and  disappointed  king  set  sail  for  Epirus.  He  had 
scarcely  embarked  before  Tarentum  surrendered  to  the  Romans 
(272  B.C.).  This  ended  the  struggle  for  the  mastery  of  Italy. 
Rome  was  now  mistress  of  all  the  peninsula  south  of  the  Arnus 


and  the  Rubicon.  It  was  now  her  care  to  consoUdate  these 
possessions,  and  to  fasten  her  hold  upon  them  by  means  of  a 
perfect  network  of  colonies  ^  and  military  roads. 

1  "  Colonies  were  not  all  of  the  same  character.  They  must  be  distinguished 
into  two  classes,  —  the  colonies  of  Roman  citizens  and  the  Latin  colonies.  The 
colonies  of  Roman  citizens  consisted  usually  of  three  hundred  men  of  approved 
military  experience,  who  went  forth  with  their  families  to  occupy  conquered 
cities  of  no  great  magnitude,  but  which  were  important  as  military  positions, 
being  usually  on  the  sea-coast.  These  three  hundred  families  formed  a  sort 
of  patrician  caste,  while  the  old  inhabitants  sank  into  the  condition  formerly 
occupied  by  the  plebeians  at  Rome.  The  heads  of  these  families  retained  all 
their  rights  as  Roman  citizens,  and  might  repair  to  Rome  to  vote  in  the  popu- 
lar assemblies."  —  Liddell's  History  of  Rome. 

The  Latin  colonies  numbered  about  twenty  at  the  time  of  the  Second  Punic 
War.  A  few  of  these  were  colonies  that  had  l)een  founded  by  the  old  Latin 
Confederacy;  but  the  most  were  towns  that  had  been  established  by  Rome 
subsequent  to  the  dissolution  of  the  league  (see  p.  38).  The  term  Latin  was 
applied  to  these  later  colonies  of  purely  Roman  origin,  for  the  reason  that  they 
enjoyed  the  same  rights  as  the  Latin  towns  that  had  retained  their  indepen- 
dence. Thus  the  inhal)itants  of  a  Latin  colony  possessed  some  of  the  most 
valuable  of  the  private  rights  of  Roman  citizens,  but  they  had  no  political 
rights  at  the  capital. 


42 


THE  FIRST  PUNIC    WAR, 


GOVERNMENT  AND  RELIGION, 


43 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE   FIRST   rUNIC  WAR. 

(264-241  B.C.) 

Carthage  and  the  Carthaginian  Empire.  —  Foremost  among 
the  cities  founded  by  the  Phoenicians  upon  the  different  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean  was  Carthage,  upon  the  northern  coast  of 
Africa.  The  city  is  thought  to  have  had  its  beginnings  in  a  small 
trading-post,  established  late  in  the  ninth  century  B.C.,  about  one 
hundred  years  before  the  legendary  date  of  the  founding  of  Rome. 
The  favorable  location  of  the  colony,  upon  one  of  the  best  harbors 
of  the  African  coast,  gave  the  city  a  vast  and  lucrative  commerce. 
At  the  period  which  we  have  now  reached  it  had  grown  into  an 
imperial  city,  covering,  with  its  gardens  and  suburbs,  a  district 
twenty-three  miles  in  citcuit.  It  could  not  have  contained  less 
than  1,000,000  inhabitants.  A  commercial  enterprise  like  that 
of  the  mother  city,  Tyre,  and  exactions  from  subject  cities  and 
states  — for  three  hundred  Libyan  cities  acknowledged  the  suze- 
rainty of  Carthage  and  paid  tribute  into  its  treasury  —  had  ren- 
dered it  enormously  wealthy.  In  the  third  century  before  our  era 
it  was  probably  the  richest  city  in  the  world. 

By  the  time  Rome  had  extended  her  authority  over  Italy,  Car- 
thage held  sway,  through  peaceful  colonization  or  by  force  ot 
arms,  over  all  the  northern  coast  of  Africa  from  the  Greater  Syrti.s 
to  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  and  possessed  the  larger  part  of  Sicily 
as  well  as  Sardinia,  Corsica,  the  Balearic  Isles,  Southern  Spain 
and  scores  of  little  islands  scattered  here  and  there  in  the  neigh 
boring  seas.     With  all  its  shores  dotted  with  her  colonies  anc 
fortresses,  and  swept  in  every  direction  by  the  Carthaginian  war 
galleys,  the  Western  Mediterranean  had  become  a  "Phoenicia] 


lake,"  in  which,  as  the  Carthaginians  boasted,  no  one  dared  wash 
his  hands  without  their  permission. 

Carthaginian  Government  and  Religion.  —  The  government 
of  Carthage,  like  that  of  Rome,  was  republican  in  form.  Corre- 
sponding to  the  Roman  consuls,  two  magistrates,  called  "  suffetes," 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  state.  The  Senate  was  composed  of  the 
heads  of  the  leading  families  ;  its  duties  and  powers  were  very  like 
those  of  the  Roman  Senate.  So  well-balanced  was  the  constitu- 
tion, and  so  prudent  was  its  administration,  that  six  hundred  years 
of  Carthaginian  history  exhibited  not  a  single  revolution. 

The  religion  of  the  Carthaginians  was  the  old  Canaanitish  wor- 
ship of  Baal,  or  the  Sun.  To  Moloch,  —  another  name  for  the 
fire-god, -—"  who  rejoiced  in  human  victims  and  in  parents'  tears," 
they  offered  human  sacrifices. 

Rome  and  Carthage  compared.  —  These  two  great  republics, 
which  for  more  than  five  centuries  had  been  slowly  extending 
their  limits  and  maturing  their  powers  upon  the  opposite  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean,  were  now  about  to  begin  one  of  the  most 
memorable  struggles  of  all  antiquity  — a  duel  that  was  to  last,  with 
every  vicissitude  of  fortune,  for  over  one  hundred  years. 

As  was  the  case  in  the  contest  between  Athens  and  Sparta,  so 
now  the  tv.'o  rival  cities,  with  their  allies  and  dependencies,  were 
very  nearly  matched  in  strength  and  resources.     The  Romans,  it 
is  true,  were  almost  destitute  of  a  navy ;  while  the  Carthaginians 
had  the  largest  and  most   splendidly  equipped  fleet   that   ever 
jatrolled  the  waters  of  the   Mediterranean.     But   although   the 
^  arthaginians  were  superior  to  the  Romans  in  naval  warfare,  they 
were  greatly  their  inferiors  in  land  encounters.     The  Carthaginian 
territory,   moreover,  was   widely   scattered,  embracing   extended 
-  )asts  and  isolated  islands;  while  the  Roman  possessions  were 
'  nnpact,  and  confined  to  a  single  and  easily  defended  peninsula. 
Agam,  the  Carthaginian  armies  were  formed  chiefly  of  mercenaries, 
lile  those  of  Rome  were  recruited  very  largely  from  the  ranks  of 
e  Roman  people.     And  then  the  subject  states  of  Carthage  were 
^*;ostly  of  another  race,  lan^iage,  and  religion  from  their  Phoeni- 


44 


THE  FIRST  PUNIC    WAR. 


THE  ROMANS  BUILD  A   FLEET. 


45 


cian  conquerors,  and  were  ready,  upon  the  first  disaster  to  the 
ruling  city,  to  drop  away  from  their  allegiance ;  while  the  Latin 
allies  and  Italian  dependencies  of  Rome  were  close  kindred  to  her 
in  race  and  religion,  and  so,  through  natural  impulse,  for  the  most 
part  remained  loyal  to  her  during  even  the  darkest  periods  of  her 
struggle  with  her  rival.  "^ 

•  The  Beginning  of  the  War.  —  Lying  between  Italy  and  the 
coast  of  Africa  is  the  large  island  of  Sicily.  It  is  in  easy  sight  of 
the  former,  and  its  southernmost  point  is  only  ninety  miles  from 
the  latter.  At  the  commencement  of  the  First  Punic  ^  War,  the 
Carthaginians  held  possession  of  all  the  island  save  a  strip  of  the 
eastern  coast,  which  was  under  the  sway  of  the  Greek  city  of  Syra- 
cuse. The  Greeks  and  Carthaginians  had  carried  on  an  almost 
uninterrupted  struggle  through  two  centuries  for  the  control  of  the 
island.  The  Romans  had  not  yet  set  foot  upon  it.  But  it  was 
destined  to  become  the  scene  of  the  most  terrible  encounters  be- 
tween the  armaments  of  the  two  rivals.  Pyrrhus  had  foreseen  it 
all.  As  he  withdrew  from  the  island,  he  remarked,  "  What  a  fine 
battle-field  we  are  leaving  for  the  Romans  and  the  Carthaginians." 
In  the  year  264  B.C.,  on  a  flimsy  pretext  of  giving  protection  to 
some  friends,-  the  Romans  crossed  over  to  the  island.     That  act 

^  From  Poeni^  I^tin  for  Phoenicians,  and  hence  applied  hy  the  Romans  to 
the  Carthaginians,  as  they  were  Phoenician  colonists. 

2  During  the  war  with  Pyrrhus,  some  Campanians,  who  had  been  serving  as 
mercenaries  in  the  army  of  the  king  of  Syracuse,  while  returning  to  Italy, 
conceived  the  project  of  seizing  the  town  of  Messana,  on  the  Sicilian  Straits. 
They  killed  the  citizens,  intrenched  themselves  in  the  place,  and  commenced 
to  annoy  the  surrounding  country  with  their  marauding  bands.  Hiero,  king 
of  Syracuse,  besieged  the  ruffians  in  their  stronghold.  The  Mamertines,  or 
•*  Sons  of  Mars,"  —  for  thus  they  termed  themselves,  —  appealed  to  the  Romans 
for  aid,  basing  their  claims  to  assistance  upon  the  alleged  fact  of  common 
descent  from  the  war-god.  Now  the  Romans  had  just  punished  a  similar  band 
of  Campanian  robbers  who  had  seized  Rhegium,  on  the  Italian  side  of  the  chan- 
nel. To  turn  about  now  and  lend  aid  to  the  Sicilian  band  would  be  the  great- 
est inconsistency.  But  in  case  they  did  not  give  the  assistance  asked,  it  wa^ 
certain  that  the  Mamertines  would  look  to  the  Carthaginians  for  succor;  and 
so  Messana  would  come  into  the  hands  of  their  rivals. 


committed  them  to  a  career  of  foreign  conquest  destined  to  con- 
tinue till  their  arms  had  made  the  circuit  of  the  Mediterranean. 

The  Syracusans  and  Carthaginians,  old  enemies  and  rivals 
though  they  had  been,  joined  their  forces  against  the  insolent 
new-comers.  The  allies  were  completely  defeated  in  the  first 
batde,  and  the  Roman  army  obtained  a  sure  foothold  upon  the 
island. 

In  the  following  year  both  consuls  were  placed  at  the  head 
of  formidable  armies  for  the  conquest  of  Sicily.  A  large  portion 
of  the  island  was  quickly  overrun,  and  many  of  the  cities  threw  off 
their  allegiance  to  Syracuse  and  Carthage,  and  became  allies  of 
Rome.  Hiero,  king  of  Syracuse,  seeing  that  he  was  upon  the 
losing  side,  deserted  the  cause  of  the  Carthaginians,  and  formed 
an  alliance  with  the  Romans,  and  ever  after  remained  their  firm 
friend. 

The  Romans  build  their  First  Fleet.—  Their  experience  dur- 
ing the  past  campaigns  had  shown  the  Romans  that  if  they  were 
to  cope  successfully  with  the  Carthaginians  they  must  be  able  to 
meet  them  upon  the  sea  as  well  as  upon  the  land.  Not  only  did 
the  Carthaginian  ships  annoy  the  Sicilian  coast  towns  which  were 
already  in  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  but  they  even  made  descents 
ui)on  the  shores  of  Italy,  ravaged  the  fields  and  villages,  and  sailed 
away  with  their  booty  before  pursuit  was  possible.  To  guard  their 
shores  and  ward  off  these  attacks,  the  Romans  had  no  fleet.  Their 
Greek  and  Etruscan  allies  were,  indeed,  maritime  peoples,  and  pos- 
sessed considerable  fleets,  which  were  at  the  disposal  of  the  Romans. 
iJiit  these  vessels  were  merely  triremes,  galleys  with  three  banks  of 
oars ;  while  the  Carthaginian  ships  were  quinqueremes,  or  vessels 
with  five  rows  of  oars.  The  former  were  worthless  to  cope  with 
the  latter,  such  an  advantage  did  these  have  in  their  greater  weight 
and  height.  So  the  Romans  determined  to  build  a  fleet  of  quin- 
queremes. 

Now  it  so  happened  that,  a  little  while  before,  a  Carthaginian 
g  illey  had  been  wrecked  upon  the  shore  of  Southern  Italy.  This 
•^^Tved  as  a  pattern.     It  is  said  that  within  the  almost  incredibly 


46 


THE  FIRST  PUNIC  WAR. 


THE    WAR    CARRIED  INTO  AFRICA. 


47 


short  space  of  sixty  days  a  growing  forest  was  converted  into  a 
fleet  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  war-galleys.  While  the  ships 
were  building,  the  Roman  soldiers  were  being  trained  in  the  duties 
of  sailors  by  practising  in  rowing,  while  sitting  in  lines  on  tiers  of 
benches  built  on  the  land.  With  the  shore  ringing  with  the 
sounds  of  the  hurried  work  upon  the  galleys,  and  crowded  with 
the  groups  of"  make-beUeve  rowers,"  the  scene  must  have  been  a 
somewhat  animated  as  well  as  ludicrous  one.  Yet  it  all  meant 
very  serious  business. 

The  Eomans  gain  their  First  Naval  Victory  (260  b.c). — 
The  consul  C.  Duillius  was  intrusted  with  the  command  of  the 
fleet.  He  met  the  Carthaginian  squadron  near  the  city  and  prom- 
ontory of  Mylae,  on  the  northern  coast  of  Sicily.  A  single  pre- 
caution gave  the  victory  to  the  Romans.  Distrusting  their  abiUty 
to  match  the  skill  of  their  enemies  in  manoeuvring  their  ships,  they 
had  provided  each  with  a  drawbridge,  over  thirty  feet  in  length, 
and  wide  enough  for  two  persons  to  pass  over  it  abreast.  It  was 
raised  and  lowered  by  means  of  pulleys  attached  to  the  mast. 
The  Carthaginian  galleys  bore  down  swiftly  upon  the  Roman  ships, 
thinking  to  pierce  and  sink  with  their  brazen  beaks  the  clumsy- 
looking  structures.  The  bridges  alone  saved  the  Roman  fleet 
from  destruction.  As  soon  as  a  Carthaginian  ship  came  near 
enough  to  a  Roman  vessel,  the  gangway  was  allowed  to  fall  upon 
the  approaching  galley ;  and  the  long  spike  with  which  the  end 
was  armed,  piercing  the  deck,  instantly  pinned  the  vessels  together. 
The  Roman  soldiers,  rushing  along  the  bridge,  were  soon  engaged 
in  a  hand-to-hand  conflict  with  their  enemies,  in  which  species  of 
encounter  the  former  were  sure  of  an  easy  victory.  Fifty  of  the 
Carthaginian  galleys  were  captured ;  the  remainder  —  t'n  '^re  were 
one  hundred  and  thirty  ships  in  the  fleet  —  wisely  refusing  to  rush 
into  the  terrible  and  fatal  embrace  in  which  they  had  seen  their 
companions  locked,  turned  their  prows  in  flight. 

The  Romans  had  gained  their  first  naval  victory.  The  jo 
at  Rome  was  unbounded.  It  inspired,  in  the  more  sanguint 
splendid  visions  of  maritime  command  and  glory.     The    Med 


terranean  should  speedily  become  a  Roman  lake,  in  which  no 
vessel  might  float  without  the  consent  of  Rome.  Duillius  was 
honored  with  a  magnificent  triumph,  and  the  Senate  ordained 
that,  in  passing  through  the  city  to  his  home  at  night,  he  should 
always  be  escorted  with  torches  and  music.  In  the  Forum  was 
raised  a  splendid  memorial  column,  "adorned  with  the  brazen 
beaks  of  the  vessels  which  his  wise 
ignorance  and  his  clumsy  skill  had  en- 
abled him  to  capture." 

The  Eomans  carry  the  War  into 
Africa. — The  results  of  the  naval  en- 
gagement at  Mylae  encouraged  the 
Romans  to  push  the  war  with  re- 
doubled energy.  They  resolved  to  carry 
it  into  Africa.  An  immense  Cartha- 
ginian fleet  that  disputed  the  passage 
of  the  Roman  squadron  was  almost 
annihilated,^  and  the  Romans  disem- 
barked near  Carthage.  Atilius  Regu- 
liis,  one  of  the  consuls  who  led  the 
army  of  invasion,  sent  word  to  Rome 
that  he  had  "sealed  up  the  gates  of 
f'arthage  with  terror."  Finally,  how- 
ever, Regulus  sufi*ered  a  crushing  defeat 
md  was  made  prisoner.^  A  fleet  which 
^vas  sent  to  bear  away  the  remnants 
r  the  shattered  army  was  wrecked  in  a  terrific  storm  off"  the 
oast  of  Sicily,  and  the  shores  of  the  island  were  strewn  with  the 
A  reckage  of  between  two  and  three  hundred  ships  and  with  the 

'dies  of  100,000  men. 

Undismayed   at   the   terrible   disaster   that  had  overtaken  the 

^  Near  the  Sicilian  promontory  of  Ecnomus,  256  B.C. 

•  The  Carthaginians  were  at  this  time  commanded  by  an  able  Spartan  gen- 
"',  Xanthippus,  who,  with  a  small  but  disciplined  band  of  Greek  mercenaries, 
;  entered  their  service. 


THE  COLUMN   OF  DUILLIUS. 
(A  Restoration.) 


48 


THE  FIRST  PUNIC    WAR, 


REGULUS. 


49 


transport  fleet,  the  Romans  set  to  work  to  build  another,  and 
made  a  second  descent  upon  the  African  coast.  The  expedition, 
however,  accomplished  nothing  of  importance ;  and  the  fleet  on 
its  return  voyage  was  almost  destroyed,  just  off"  the  coast  of  Italy, 
by  a  tremendous  storm.  The  visions  of  naval  supremacy  awakened 
among  the  Romans  by  the  splendid  victories  of  Mylae  and  Ecnomus 
were  thus  suddenly  dispelled  by  these  two  successive  and  appalling 
disasters  that  had  overtaken  their  armaments,^ 

The  Battle  of  Panormus  (251  b.c).  —  For  a  few  years  the 
Romans  refrained  from  tempting  again  the  hostile  powers  of  the 
sea.  Sicily  became  the  battle-ground  where  the  war  was  con- 
tinued, although  with  but  little  spirit  on  either  side,  until  the  arrival 
in  the  island  of  the  Carthaginian  general  Hasdnibal  (251  b.c). 
He  brought  with  him  one  huntlred  and  forty  elephants  trained 
in  war.  Of  all  the  instnmients  of  death  which  the  Roman  soldiers 
were  accustomed  to  face,  none  in  the  history  of  the  legionaries 
inspired  them  with  such  uncontrollable  terror  as  these  "wild 
beasts,"  as  they  termed  them.  The  furious  rage  with  which  these 
monsters,  themselves  almost  invulnerable  to  the  darts  of  the  enemv, 
swept  down  the  opposing  ranks  with  their  trunks,  and  tossed  and 
trampled  to  pieces  the  bodies  of  their  victims,  was  indeed  well 
calculated  to  inspire  a  most  exaggerated  dread. 

Beneath  the  walls  of  Panormus,  the  consul  Metellus  drew 
Hasdrubal  into  an  engagement.  He  checked  the  terrific  chargt 
of  the  war  elephants  by  discharges  of  arrows  dipped  in  flaming 
pitch,  which  caused  the  frightened  animals  to  rush  back  upon  and 
cnish  through  the  disordered  ranks  of  the  Carthaginians.  The 
result  was  a  complete  victory  for  the  Romans.  After  the  battk 
the  Romans  induced  the  drivers  of  the  elephants,  which  wen 
roaming  over  the  field  in  a  sort  of  i)anic,  to  capture  and  quiet 
the  creatures.  Once  in  captivity,  they  were  floated  across  th( 
Sicilian  Straits  on  huge  rafts,  and  to  the  number  of  twenty  gracetl 
the  triumphal  procession  of  Metellus.  After  having  been  led 
through  the  Forum  and  along  the  Via  Siicra,  they  were  conducted 
to  the  Circus,  and  there  slain  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled 
multitudes. 


Regulns  and  the  Carthaginian  Embassy.  —  The  result  of  the 
battle  of  Panormus  dispirited  the  Carthaginians.  They  sent  an 
embassy  to  Rome,  to  negotiate  for  peace,  or,  if  that  could  not 
be  reached,  to  effect  an  exchange  of  prisoners.  Among  the  com- 
missioners was  Regulus,  who  since  his  capture,  five  years  before, 
had  been  held  a  prisoner  in  Africa.  Before  setting  out  from 
Carthage  he  had  promised  to  return  if  the  embassy  were  unsuc- 
cessful. For  the  sake  of  his  own  release,  the  Carthaginians  sup- 
l)osed  he  would  counsel  peace,  or  at  least  urge  an  exchange  of 
prisoners.  But  it  is  related,  that  upon  arrival  at  Rome,  he  coun- 
selled war  instead  of  peace,  at  the  same  time  revealing  to  the 
Senate  the  enfeebled  condition  of  Carthage.  As  to  the  exchange 
of  prisoners,  he  said,  '*  Let  those  who  have  surrendered  when  they 
ought  to  have  died,  die  in  the  land   which  has  witnessed  their 


disgrace." 


The  Roman  Senate,  following  his  counsel,  rejected  all  the  pro- 
posals of  the  embassy ;  and  Regulus,  in  spite  of  the  tears  and  en- 
treaties of  his  wife  and  friends,  turned  away  from  Rome,  and  set 
out  for  Carthage  to  bear  such  fate  as  he  well  knew  the  Carthagin- 
ians, in  their  disappointment  and  anger,  would  be  sure  to  visit  upon 
him. 

The  tradition  goes  on  to  tell  how,  upon  his  arrival  at  Carthage, 
he  was  confined  in  a  cask  driven  full  of  spikes,  and  then  left  to 
die  of  starvation  and  pain.     This  part  of  the  tale  has  been  dis- 
credited, and  the  finest  touches  of  the  other  portions  are  supposed 
lo  have  been  added  by  the  story-tellers. 
Loss  of  Two  More  Roman  Fleets. —After  the  failure  of  the 
arthaginian  embassy,  the  war  went  on  for  several  years  by  land 
fid  sea  with  many  vicissitudes.     At  last,  on  the  coast  of  Sicily, 
i'C  of  the  consuls,  Claudius,  met  with  an  overwhelming  defeat.^ 
'most  a  hundred  vessels  of  his  fleet  were  lost.     The  disaster 
used  the  greatest  alarm  at  Rome.     Superstition  increased  the 
Jars  of  the  people.     It  was  reported  that  just  before  the  battle, 

1  In  a  sea-fight  at  Drepana,  249  u.c. 


50 


THE  FIRST  PUNIC    WAR, 


CLOSE    OF   THE    WAR. 


51 


I 


when  the  auspices  were  being  taken,  and  the  sacred  chickens 
would  not  eat,  Claudius  had  given  orders  to  have  them  thrown 
into  the  sea,  irreverently  remarking,  "  At  any  rate,  they  shall  drink." 
Imagination  was  free  to  depict  what  further  evils  the  offended 
gods  might  inflict  upon  the  Roman  state. 

The  gloomiest  forebodings  might  have  found  justification  in 
subsequent  events.  The  other  consul  just  now  met  with  a  great 
disaster.  He  was  proceeding  along  the  southern  coast  of  Sicily 
with  a  squadron  of  eight  hundred  merchantmen  and  over  one 
hundred  war-galleys,  the  former  loaded  with  grain  for  the  Roman 
army  on  the  island.  A  severe  storm  arising,  the  squadron  was 
beaten  to  pieces  upon  the  rocks.  Not  a  single  ship  escaped. 
The  coast  for  miles  was  strewn  with  broken  planks,  and  with 
bodies,  and  heaped  with  vast  windrows  of  grain  cast  up  by  the 
waves. 

Close  of  the  First  Punic  War.  —  The  war  had  now  lasted  for 
fifteen  years.  Four  Roman  fleets  had  been  destroyed,  three  of 
which  had  been  sunk  or  broken  to  pieces  by  storms.  Of  the 
fourteen  hundred  vessels  which  had  been  lost,  seven  hundred  were 
war-galleys,  —  all  large  and  costly  quinqueremes,  that  is,  vessels 
with  five  banks  of  oars.  Only  one  hundred  of  these  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy ;  the  remainder  were  a  sacrificie  to 
the  malign  and  hostile  power  of  the  waves.  Such  successive 
blows  from  an  invisible  hand  were  enough  to  blanch  the  faces 
even  of  the  sturdy  Romans.  Neptune  manifestly  denied  to  the 
"  Children  of  Mars  "  the  realm  of  the  sea. 

It  was  impossible  for  the  six  years  following  the  last  disaster  to 
infuse  any  spirit  into  the  struggle.     In  247  B.C.,  Hamilcar  Barca. 
the  father  of  the  great  Hannibal,  assumed  the  command  of  tht 
Carthaginian  forces,  and  for  several  years  conducted  the  war  wit! 
great  ability  on  the  island  of  Sicily,  even  making  Rome  trembl 
for  the  safety  of  her  Italian  possessions. 

Once  more  the  Romans  determined  to  commit  their  cause  t( 
the  element  that  had  been  so  unfriendly  to  them.  A  fleet  of  tw( 
hundred  vessels  was  built  and  equipped,  but  entirely  by  private 


t 


subscription ;  for  the  Senate  feared  that  public  sentiment  would 
not  sustain  them  in  levying  a  tax  for  fitting  up  another  costly 
armament  as  an  offering  to  the  insatiable  Neptune.  This  people's 
s(iuadron,  as  we  may  call  it,  was  intrusted  to  the  command  of  the 
consul  Catulus.  He  met  the  Carthaginian  fleet  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  admiral  Hanno,  near  the  ^gatian  Islands,  and 
inflicted  upon  it  a  cmshing  defeat  (241  b.c). 

The  Carthaginians  now  sued  for  peace.  A  treaty  was  at  length 
arranged,  the  terms  of  which  required  that  Carthage  should  give  up 
all  claims  to  the  island  of  Sicily,  surrender  all  her  prisoners,  and 
l)ay  an  indemnity  of  3200  talents  (about  $4,000,000),  one-third 
of  which  was  to  be  paid  down,  and  the  balance  in  ten  yearly  pay- 
ments. Thus  ended  (241  b.c),  after  a  continuance  of  twenty- 
four  years,  the  first  great  struggle  between  Carthage  and  Rome. 


52 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC   WAR, 


CHAPTER   IV. 


THE  SECOND   PUNIC  WAR. 


■  I;'' 


(218-201    B.C.) 

Rome  between  the  First  and  the  Second  Punic  War. 

The  First  Roman  Province.  —  For  the  twenty-three  years  that 
followed  the  close  of  the  first  struggle  between  Rome  and  Car- 
thage, the  two  rivals  strained  every  power  and  taxed  every 
resource  in  preparation  for  a  renewal  of  the  contest. 

The  Romans  settled  the  affairs  of  Sicily,  organizing  all  of  it, 
save  the  lands  belonging  to  Syracuse,  as  a  province  of  the 
republic.  This  was  the  first  territory  beyond  the  limits  of  Italy 
that  Rome  had  conquered,  and  the  Sicilian  the  first  of  Roman 
provinces.  But  as  the  imperial  city  extended  her  conquests,  her 
provincial  possessions  increased  in  number  and  size  until  thcv 
formed  at  last  a  perfect  cordon  about  the  Mediterranean.  Earli 
province  was  governed  by  a  magistrate  sent  out  from  the  capital, 
and  paid  an  annual  tribute,  or  tax,  to  Rome. 

Rome  acquires  Sardinia  and  Corsica. — The  first  acquisition 
by  the  Romans  of  lands  beyond  the  peninsula  seems  to  have 
created  in  them  an  insatiable  ambition  for  foreign  conquest^. 
They  soon  found  a  pretext  for  seizing  the  island  of  Sardinia, 
the  most  ancient,  and,  after  Sicily,  the  most  prized  of  the  pos- 
sessions of  the  Carthaginians.  An  insurrection  breaking  out 
upon  the  island,  the  Carthaginians  were  moving  to  supprt- 
it,  when  the  Romans  insolently  commanded  them  not  only  to 
desist  from  their  military  preparations  (pretending  that  thty 
believed  them  a  threat  against  Rome),  but  to  surrender  Sardini  1, 
and,  moreover,  to  pay  a  fine  of  1200  talents  ($1,500,000).  Car- 
thage,   exhausted   as   she   was,   could    do   nothing   but   compb. 


THE   CORSAIRS  ARE  PUNISHED, 


The  meanness  and  perfidy  of  the  Romans  in  this  matter  made 
more  bitter  and  implacable,  if  that  were  possible,  the  Cartha- 
ginian hatred  of  the  Roman  race.  Sardinia,  in  connection 
with  Corsica,  which  was  also  seized,  was  formed  into  a  Roman 
province.  With  her  hands  upon  these  islands,  the  authority  of 
Rome  in  the  Western,  or  Tuscan  Sea  was  supreme.  ^ 

The  lUyrian  Corsairs  are  punished.  —  In  a  more  legitimate 
way  the  Romans  extended  their  influence  over  the  seas  that 
wash  the  eastern  shores  of  Italy.  For  a  long  time  the  Adriatic 
and  Ionian  waters  had  been  infested  with  Illyrian  pirates,  who 
issued  from  the  roadsteads  of  the  northeastern  coasts  of  the 
former  sea.  These  buccaneers  not  only  scoured  the  seas  for 
merchantmen,  but  troubled  the  Hellenic  towns  along  the  shores 
of  Greece,  and  were  even  so  bold  as  to  make  descents  upon 
the  Italian  coasts.  The  Roman  fleet  chased  these  corsairs 
from  the  Adriatic,  and  captured  several  of  their  strongholds. 
Rome  now  assumed  a  sort  of  protectorate  over  the  Greek  cities 
of  the  Adriatic  coasts.  This  was  her  first  step  towards  final 
supremacy  in  Macedonia  and  Greece. 

War  with  the  Oauls.  —  In  the  north,  during  this  same  period, 
Roman  authority  was  extended  from  the  Apennines  and  the  Ru- 
bicon to  the  foot  of  the  Alps.  Alarmed  at  the  advance  of  the 
Romans,  who  were  pushing  northward  their  great  military  road, 
called  the  Flaminian  Way,  and  also  settling  with  discharged  sol- 
diers and  needy  citizens  the  tracts  of  frontier  land  wrested  some 
time  before  from  the  Gauls,  the  Boii,  a  tribe  of  that  race,  stirred  up 
all  the  Gallic  peoples  already  in  Italy,  besides  their  kinsmen  who 
were  yet  beyond  the  mountains,  for  an  assault  upon  Rome.  In- 
telligence of  this  movement  among  the  northern  tribes  threw  all 
Italy  into  a  fever  of  excitement.  At  Rome  the  terror  was  great ; 
for  not  yet  had  died  out  of  memory  what  the  city  had  once  suf- 
fered at  the  hands  of  the  ancestors  of  these  same  barbarians  that 
were  now  again  gathering  their  hordes  for  sack  and  pillage.  An 
ancient  prediction,  found  in  the  Sibylline  books,  declared  that  a 
portion  of  Roman  territory  must  needs  be  occupied  by  Gauls. 


I' 


54 


THE   SECOND  PUNIC  WAR, 


Hoping  sufficiently  to  fulfil  the  prophecy  and  satisfy  fate,  the 
Roman  Senate  caused  two  Gauls  to  be  buried  alive  in  one  of  tlie 
public  squares  of  the  capital. 

Meanwhile  the  barbarians  had  advanced  into  Etruria,  ravaging 
the  country  as  they  moved  southward.  After  gathering  a  large 
amount  of  booty,  they  were  carrying  this  back  to  a  place  of  safety, 
when  they  were  surrounded  by  the  Roman  armies  at  Telamon,  and 
almost  annihilated  (225  B.C.).  The  Romans,  taking  advantage  of 
this  victory,  pushed  on  into  the  plains  of  the  Po,  captured  the  city 
which  is  now  known  as  Milan,  and  extended  their  authority  to 
the  foot-hills  of  the  Alps.  To  guard  the  new  territory,  two  mili- 
tary colonies,  Placentia  and  Cremona,  were  established  upon  the 
opposite  banks  of  the  Po. 


Carthage  between  the  First  and  the  Second  Punic  War. 

The  Truceless  War.  —  Scarcely  had  peace  been  concluded  with 
Rome  at  the  end  of  the  First  Punic  War,  before  Carthage  was 
plunged  into  a  still  deadlier  struggle,  which  for  a  time  threatened 
her  very  existence.  The  mercenary  troops,  upon  their  return  from 
Sicily,  revolted,  on  account  of  not  receiving  their  pay.  Their 
appeal  to  the  native  tribes  of  Africa  was  answered  l>y  a  general 
uprising  throughout  the  dependencies  of  Carthage.  The  extent 
of  the  revolt  shows  how  hateful  and  hated  was  the  rule  of  the  great 
capital  over  her  subject  states. 

The  war  was  unspeakably  bitter  and  cruel.  It  is  known  in  his- 
tory as  "The  Tmceless  War."  At  one  time  Carthage  was  the  only 
city  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  government.  But  the  genius 
of  the  great  Carthaginian  general,  Hamilcar  Barca,  at  last  tri- 
umphed, and  the  authority  of  Carthage  was  everywhere  restored. 

The  Carthaginians  in  Spain.  —  After  the  disastrous  termination 
of  the  First  Punic  War,  the  Carthaginians  determined  to  repair 
their  losses  by  new  conquests  in  Spain.  Hamilcar  Barca  was  sent 
over  into  that  country,  and  for  nine  years  he  devoted  his  com- 
manding genius  to  organizing  the  different  Iberian  tribes  into  a 


HANNIBAVS    VOW. 


55 


compact  state,  and  to  developing  the  rich  gold  and  silver  mines  of 
the  southern  part  of  the  peninsula.     He  fell  in  battle  228  b.c. 

Hamilcar  Barca  was  the  greatest  general  that  up  to  this  time  the 
Carthaginian  race  had  produced.  As  a  rule,  genius  is  not  trans- 
mitted ;  but  in  the  Barcine  family  the  rule  was  broken,  and  the 
rare  genius  of  Hamilcar  reappeared  in  his  sons,  whom  he  himself, 
it  is  said,  was  fond  of  calling  the  "  lion's  brood."  Hannibal,  the 
oldest,  was  only  nineteen  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  and 
being  thus  too  young  to  assume  command,  Hasdrubal;^  the  son- 
in-law  of  Hamilcar,  was  chosen  to  succeed  him.  He  carried  out 
the  unfinished  plans  of  Hamilcar,  extended  and  consolidated  the 
Carthaginian  power  in  Spain,  and  upon  the  eastern  coast  founded 
New  Carthage  as  the  centre  and  capital  of  the  newly  acquired  ter- 
ritory. The  native  tribes  were  conciliated  rather  than  conquered. 
The  Barcine  family  knew  how  to  rule  as  well  as  how  to  fight. 

Hannibal's  Vow.  —  Upon  the  death  of  Hasdrubal,  which  oc- 
curred 221  B.C.,  Hannibal,  now  twenty-six  years  of  age,  was  by  the 
unanimous  voice  of  the  army  called  to  be  their  leader.  When  a 
child  of  nine  years  he  had  been  led  by  his  father  to  the  altar ;  and 
there,  with  his  hands  upon  the  sacrifice,  the  little  boy  had  sworn 
eternal  hatred  to  the  Roman  race.  He  was  driven  on  to  his 
gigantic  undertakings  and  to  his  hard  fate,  not  only  by  the  restless 
fires  of  his  warlike  genius,  but,  as  he  himself  declared,  by  the 
sacred  obligations  of  a  vow  that  could  not  be  broken. 

Hannibal  attacks  Sagontum.  — In  two  years  Hannibal  extended 
the  Carthaginian  power  to  the  Ebro.  Saguntum,  a  Greek  city 
upon  the  east  coast  of  Spain,  alone  remained  unsubdued.  The 
Romans,  who  were  jealously  watching  affairs  in  the  peninsula,  had 
entered  into  an  alliance  with  this  city,  and  taken  it,  with  other 
Greek  cities  in  that  quarter  of  the  Mediterranean,  under  their  pro- 
tection. Hannibal,  although  he  well  knew  that  an  attack  upon 
this  place  would  precipitate  hostilities  with  Rome,  laid  siege  to  it 


1  Not  to  be  confounded  with   Hannibal's   own   brother,  Hasdrubal.     See 
p.  65. 


56 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC  WAR. 


in  the  spring  of  219  B.C.  He  was  eager  for  the  renewal  of  the  old 
contest.  The  Roman  Senate  sent  messengers  to  him  forbidding 
his  making  war  upon  a  city  which  was  a  friend  and  ally  of  the 
Roman  people ;  but  Hannibal,  disregarding  their  remonstrances, 
continued  the  siege,  and  after  an  investment  of  eight  months 
gained  possession  of  the  town. 

The  Romans  now  sent  commissioners  to  Carthage  to  demand 
of  the  Senate  that  they  should  give  up  Hannibal  to  them,  and  by 
so  doing  repudiate  the  act  of  their  general.  The  Carthaginians 
hesitated.  Then  Quintus  Fabius,  chief  of  the  embassy,  gathering 
up  his  toga,  said  :  "  1  carry  here  peace  and  war ;  choose,  men  of 
Carthage,  which  ye  will  have."  "  (iive  us  whichever  ye  will,"  was 
the  reply.  "War,  then,"  said  Fabius,  dropping  his  toga.  The 
"  die  was  now  cast ;  and  the  arena  was  cleared  for  the  foremost, 
perhaps  the  mightiest,  military  genius  of  any  race  and  of  any 
time."  ^ 

The  Second  Punic  War. 

Hannibal  begins  his  March.  —  The  Carthaginian  empire  was 
now  stirred  with  preparations  for  the  impending  struggle.  Han- 
nibal was  the  life  and  soul  of  every  movement.  He  planned  and 
executed.  The  Carthaginian  Senate  acquiesced  in  and  tardily 
confirmed  his  acts.  His  bold  plan  was  to  cross  the  Pyrenees  and 
the  Alps  and  descend  upon  Rome  from  the  north.  He  secured 
the  provinces  in  Spain  and  Africa  by  placing  garrisons  of  Iberians 
in  Africa  and  of  Libyans  in  the  peninsula.  Ambassadors  were  sent 
among  the  GalHc  tribes  on  both  sides  of  the  Alps,  to  invite  them  to 
be  ready  to  join  the  army  that  would  soon  set  out  from  Spain. 

With  these  preparations  completed,  Hannibal  left  New  Carthage 
early  in  the  spring  of^2i8  b.c,  with  an  army  numbering  about 
100,000  men,  and  including  thirty-seven  war-elephants.  A  hostile 
country  lay  between  him  and  the  Pyrenees.  Through  the  warlike 
tribes  that  resisted  his  march  he  forced  his  way  to  the  foot  of  the 


^  Smith's  Carthage  and  Rome ^  p.  114. 


58 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC  WAR. 


mountains  that  guard  the  northern  frontier  of  Spain.     More  than 
20,000  of  his  soldiers  were  lost  in  this  part  of  his  march. 

Passage  of  the  Pyrenees  and  the  Rhone.  —  Leaving  a  strong 
force  to  garrison  the  newly  conquered  lands,  and  discharging 
10,000  more  of  his  men  who  had  begun  to  murmur  because  of 
their  hardships,  he  pushed  on  with  the  remainder  across  the 
Pyrenees,  and  led  them  down  into  the  valley  of  the  Rhone.  The 
Gauls  attempted  to  dispute  the  passage  of  the  river,  but  they 
were  routed,  and  the  army  was  ferried  across  the  stream  in  native 

boats  and  on  rudely  constructed  rafts. 
Passage  of  the  Alps.  —  Hannibal 
now  followed  up  the  course  of  the 
Rhone,  and  then  one  of  its  eastern 
tributaries,  the  Is^re,  until  he  reached 
the  foot-hills  of  the  Alps,  probably 
under  the  pass  of  the  Litde  St.  Ber- 
nard. Nature  and  man  joined  to  op- 
pose the  passage.  The  season  was 
already  far  advanced,  —  it  was  Octo- 
ber,—  and  snow  was  falling  upon  the 
higher  portions  of  the  trail.  Day  after 
day  the  army  toiled  painfully  up  the 
dangerous  path.  In  places  the  narrow 
way  had  to  be  cut  wider  for  the 
monstrous  bodies  of  the  elephants.  Often  avalanches  of  stone 
were  hurled  upon  the  trains  by  the  hostile  bands  that  held  posses- 
sion of  the  heights  above.  At  last  the  summit  was  gained,  and 
the  shivering  army  looked  down  into  the  warm  haze  of  the  Italian 
plains.  The  sight  alone  was  enough  to  rouse  the  drooping  spirits 
of  the  soldiers ;  but  Hannibal  stirred  them  to  enthusiasm  by 
addressing  them  with  these  words :  "  You  are  standing  upon  the 
Acropolis  of  Italy;  yonder  lies  Rome."  The  army  began  its 
descent,  and  at  length,  after  toils  and  losses  equalled  only  by  those 
of  the  ascent,  its  thin  battalions  issued  from  the  defiles  of  the 
mountains  upon  the  plains  of  the  Po.    Of  the  50,000  men  and 


HANNIBAL 


BATTLES   OF  THE    TICINUS,    TREBIA,   ETC, 


59 


more  with  which  Hannibal  had  begun  the  passage,  barely  half 
that  number  had  survived  the  march,  and  these  "looked  more 
like  phantoms  than  men." 

Battles  of  the  Ticinus,  the  Trebia,  and  of  Lake  Trasime- 
nus.  — The  Romans  had  not  the  remotest  idea  of  Hannibal's 
plans.  With  war  determined  upon,  the  Senate  had  sent  one  of 
the  consuls,  Ti.  Sempronius  Longus,  with  an  army  into  Africa  by 
the  way  of  Sicily ;  while  the  other,  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio,  they 
had  directed  to  lead  another  army  into  Spain. 

While  the  Senate  were  watching  the  movements  of  these  expe- 
ditions, they  were  startled  with  the  intelligence  that  Hannibal, 
instead  of  being  in  Spain,  had  crossed  the  Pyrenees  and  was 
among  the  Gauls  upon  the  Rhone.  Sempronius  was  hastily 
recalled  from  his  attempt  upon  Africa,  to  the  defence  of  Italy. 
Scipio,  on  his  way  to  Spain,  had  touched  at  Massilia,  and  there 
learned  of  the  movements  of  Hannibal.  He  turned  back,  hur- 
ried into  Northern  Italy,  and  took  command  of  the  levies  there. 
The  cavalry  of  the  two  armies  met  upon  the  banks  of  the  Ticinus, 
a  tributary  of  the  Po.  The  Romans  were  driven  from  the  field 
by  the  fierce  onset  of  the  Numidian  horsemen.  Scipio  now 
awaited  the  arrival  of  the  other  consular  army,  which  was  hurrying 
up  through  Italy  by  forced  marches. 

In  the  battle  of  the  Trebia  (218  B.C.)  the  united  armies  of  the 
two  consuls  were  almost  annihilated.  The  refugees  that  escaped 
from  the  field  sought  shelter  behind  the  walls  of  Placentia.  The 
Gauls,  who  had  been  waiting  to  see  to  which  side  fortune  would 
incline,  now  flocked  to  the  standard  of  Hannibal,  and  hailed  him 
as  their  deliverer. 

The  spring  following  the  victory  at  the  Trebia,  Hannibal  led 
his  army,  now  recruited  by  many  Gauls,  across  the  Apennines, 
and  moved  southward.  At  Lake  Trasi menus  he  entrapped  the 
Romans  under  Flaminius  in  a  mountain  defile,  where,  bewildered 
by  a  fog  that  filled  the  valley,  the  greater  part  of  the  army  was 
slaughtered,  and  the  consul  himself  was  slain. 

Hannibal's  Policy.  —  The  way  to  Rome  was  now  open.    Be- 


60 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC  WAR, 


THE  POLICY  OF  FABIUS    VINDICATED, 


61 


\\ 


I 


lieving  that  Hannibal  would  march  directly  upon  the  capital,  the 
Senate  caused  the  bridges  that  spanned  the  Tiber  to  be  destroyed, 
and  appointed  Fabius  Maximus  dictator.  But  Hannibal  did  not 
deem  it  wise  to  throw  his  troops  against  the  walls  of  Rome. 
Crossing  the  Apennines,  he  touched  the  Adriatic  at  Picenum, 
whence  he  sent  messages  to  Carthage  of  his  wonderful  achieve- 
ments. Here  he  rested  his  army  after  a  march  that  has  few 
parallels  in  the  annals  of  war. 

In  one  respect  only  had  events  disappointed  Hannibal's  ex- 
pectations. He  had  thought  that  all  the  states  of  Italy  were,  like 
the  Gauls,  ready  to  revolt  from  Rome  at  the  first  opportunity  that 
might  offer  itself.  But  not  a  single  city  had  thus  far  proved 
unfaithful  to  Rome.  The  aid  which  Hannibal  expected  from  the 
Italians,  and  which  he  invited  by  the  kindest  treatment  of  those 
who  fell  into  his  hands  as  prisoners,  he  was  destined  never  to 

receive. 

Fabius  "the  Delayer." — The  dictator  Fabius,  at  the  head  of 
four  new  legions,  started  in  pursuit  of  Hannibal,  who  was  again  on 
the  move.  The  fate  of  Rome  was  in  the  hands  of  Fabius.  Should 
he  risk  a  battle  and  lose  it,  the  destiny  of  the  capital  would  be 
sealed.  He  determined  to  adopt  a  more  prudent  policy  —  to 
follow  and  annoy  the  Carthaginian  army,  but  to  refuse  all  proffers 
of  battle.  Thus  time  might  be  gained  for  raising  a  new  army 
and  perfecting  measures  for  the  public  defence.  In  every  possible 
way  Hannibal  endeavored  to  draw  his  enemy  into  an  engagement. 
He  ravaged  the  fields  far  and  wide  and  fired  the  homesteads  of 
the  Italians,  in  order  to  force  Fabius  to  fight  in  their  defence. 
The  soldiers  of  the  dictator  began  to  murmur.  They  called  him 
Cunctator,  or  "  the  Delayer."  They  even  accused  him  of  treach- 
ery to  the  cause  of  Rome.  But  nothing  moved  him  from  the 
steady  pursuit  of  the  policy  which  he  clearly  saw  was  the  only 
prudent  one  to  follow.  Hannibal  marched  through  Samnium, 
desolating  the  country  as  he  went,  and  then  descended  upon  the 
rich  plains  of  Campania.  Fabius  followed  him  closely,  and  from 
the  mountains,  which  he  would  not  allow  his  soldiers  to  leave,  they 


were  obliged  to  watch,  with  such  calmness  as  they  might  com- 
mand, the  devastations  of  the  enemy  going  on  beneath  their  very 
eyes.     They  besought  Fabius  to  lead  them  down  upon  the  plain, 
where  they  might  at  least  strike  a  blow  in  defence  of  their  homes. 
Fabius  was  unmoved  by  their  clamor.     He  planned,  however,  to 
entrap  Hannibal.     Knowing  that  the  enemy  could  not  support 
themselves   in   Campania   through   the   approaching  winter,  but 
must  recross  the  mountains  into  Apulia,  he  placed  a  strong  guard 
in  the  pass  by  which  they  must  retreat,  and  then  quietly  awaited 
their  movements.     Hannibal,  we  are  told,  resorted  to  stratagem 
to  draw  away  the  defenders  of  the  mountain  path.     To  the  horns 
of  two  thousand  oxen  he  caused  burning  torches  to  be  fastened, 
and  then  these  animals  were  driven  one  night  up  among  the  hills 
that  overhung  the  pass.     These  creatures,  frantic  with  pain  and 
fright,  rushed  along  the  ranges  that  bordered  the  pass,  and  led 
the  watchers  there  to  believe  that  the  Carthaginians  were  forcing 
their  way  over  the  hills  in  a  grand  rush.     Straightway  the  guardians 
of  the  pass  left  their  position  to  intercept  the  flying  enemy.    While 
they  were  pursuing  the  cattle,  Hannibal  marched  quietly  with  all 
his  booty  through  the  unguarded  defile,  and  escaped  into  Samnium. 
The  Policy  of  Fabius  vindicated.  —  The  escape  of  the  Car- 
thaginian army  caused  the  smothered  discontent  with  Fabius  and 
his  policy  to  break  out  into  open  opposition,  both  among  the  citi- 
zens at  the  capital  and  the  soldiers  in  the  camp.     Minucius,  com- 
mander of  the  cavalry,  disobeyed  the  orders  of  the  dictator  to 
refrain  from  any  engagement  with  the  enemy,  and  was  so  fortunate 
as  to  gain  a  slight  success.     This  brought  matters  to  a  crisis.     By 
a  vote  of  the  public  assembly  Minucius  was  made  co-dictator  with 
Fabius.     He  now  sought  an  engagement  with  the  Carthaginians. 
An  opportunity  soon  presented  itself.     But  fortune  was  against 
him ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  timely  assistance  of  Fabius,  his 
forces  would  have  been  cut  to  pieces.     Minucius  at  once  acknowl- 
edged the  rashness  of  his  policy,  and  took  again  his  old  position 
as  a  subordinate;   while  Fabius,  by  universal  acclamation,  was 
declared  the  "  Savior  of  Rome." 


62 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC   WAR, 


EVENTS  AFTER    THE  BATTLE   OF  CANN^. 


63 


•1! 


S|i 


The  Battle  of  CannaB  (216  b.c). — The  time  gained  by  Fabius 
had  enabled  the  Romans  to  raise  and  discipline  an  army  that 
might  hope  to  combat  successfully  the  Carthaginian  forces.  Early 
in  the  summer  of  the  year  216  B.C.,  these  new  levies,  number- 
ing 80,000  men,  under  the  command  of  the  two  consuls,^  con- 
fronted the  army  of  Hannibal,  amounting  to  not  more  than  half 
that  number,  at  Cannae,  in  Apulia.     It  was  the  largest  army  the 


PLAN  OF  THE 

BATTLE    OF    CANJiE 

▲rTEB  STRACHKN-DAVID60K. 


GREATER  ROMAN  CAMP 


^RMeb ^  ALLIES 


'^^Wfl^ 


AF«»C/<N 


Romans  had  ever  gathered  on  any  battle-field.  But  it  had  been 
collected  only  to  meet  the  most  overwhelming  defeat  that  ever 
befell  the  forces  of  the  republic.  Through  the  skilful  manoeu- 
vres of  Hannibal,  the  Romans  were  completely  surrounded,  and 

1  The  dictatorship  of  Fabius  Maximus  had  expired.  The  patrician  consul 
was  named  Lucius  /Emilius  Paulus;  the  plebeian,  Gaius  Terentius  Varro. 
They  were  divided  in  counsel,  and  it  was  the  rashness  of  Varro  that  precij)!- 
tated  the  liattle.  The  yearly  change  of  their  chief  magistrates  was  a  source  of 
weakness  and  loss  to  the  Romans  in  time  of  war.  The  popular  vote  frequently 
failed  to  secure  experienced  generals.  Demagogues  often  controlled  the  elec- 
tion, as  at  Athens  in  the  times  of  Ueon  and  Alcibiades.  See  Eastern  Nations 
and  Greece^  pp.  245-248. 


huddled  together  in  a  helpless  mass  upon  the  field,  and  then  for 
eight  hours  were  cut  down  by  the  Numidian  cavalry.  From  fifty 
to  seventy  thousand  were  slain ;  a  few  thousand  were  taken  pris- 
oners; only  the  merest  handful  escaped,  including  one  of  the 
consuls.  The  slaughter  was  so  great  that,  according  to  Livy,  when 
Mago,  a  brother  of  Hannibal,  carried  the  news  of  the  victory  to 
Carthage,  he,  in  confirmation  of  the  intelligence,  poured  down  in 
the  porch  of  the  Senate-house  nearly  a  peck  of  gold  rings  taken 
from  the  fingers  of  Roman  knights. 

Events  after  the  Battle  of  CannaB.— The  awful  news  flew  to 
Rome.  Consternation  and  despair  seized  the  people.  The  city 
would  have  been  emptied  of  its  population  had  not  the  Senate 
ordered  the  gates  to  be  closed.  Never  did  that  body  display 
greater  calmness,  wisdom,  prudence,  and  resolution.  By  word 
and  act  they  bade  the  people  never  to  despair  of  the  republic. 
Litde  by  little  the  panic  was  allayed.  Measures  were  concerted 
for  the  defence  of  the  capital,  as  it  was  expected  that  Hannibal 
would  immediately  march  upon  Rome.  Swift  horsemen  were 
sent  out  along  the  Appian  Way  to  gather  information  of  the  con- 
queror's movements,  and  to  learn,  as  Livy  expresses  it,  "if  the 
immortal  gods,  out  of  pity  to  the  empire,  had  left  any  remnant  of 
the  Roman  name." 

The  leader  of  the  Numidian  cavalry,  Maharbal,  urged  Hanni- 
bal to  follow  up  his  victory  closely.  "  Let  me  advance  with  the 
cavalry,"  said  he,  "and  in  five  days  thou  shalt  dine  in  the  capi- 
tal." But  Hannibal  refused  to  adopt  the  counsel  of  his  impetuous 
general.  Maharbal  turned  away,  and  with  mingled  reproach  and 
impatience  exclaimed,  "Alas  !  thou  knowest  how  to  gain  a  vic- 
tory, but  not  how  to  use  one."  The  great  commander,  while  he 
knew  he  was  invincible  in  the  open  field,  did  not  think  it  prudent 
to  fight  the  Romans  behind  their  walls. 

Hannibal  now  sent  an  embassy  to  Rome  to  offer  terms  of  peace. 
The  Senate,  true  to  the  Appian  policy  never  to  treat  with  a  vic- 
torious enemy  (see  p.  40),  would  not  even  permit  the  ambassa- 
dors to  enter  the  gates.     Not  less  disappointed  was  Hannibal  in 


64 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC   WAR. 


THE  FALL    OF  SYRACUSE, 


65 


|. 


II 


the  temper  of  the  Roman  allies.  For  the  most  part  they  adhered 
to  the  cause  of  Rome  with  unshaken  loyalty  through  all  these 
trying  times.  Some  tribes  in  the  south  of  Italy,  however,  among 
which  were  the  Lucanians,  the  Apulians,  and  the  Bruttians,  went 
over  to  the  Carthaginians.  Hannibal  marched  into  Campania  and 
quartered  his  army  for  the  winter  in  the  luxurious  city  of  Capua,^ 
which  had  opened  its  gates  to  him.  Here  he  rested  and  sent 
urgent  messages  to  Carthage  for  reinforcements,  while  Rome  ex- 
hausted every  resource  in  raising  and  equipping  new  levies,  to 
take  the  place  of  the  legions  lost  at  Cannoe.  For  several  years 
there  was  an  ominous  lull  in  the  war,  while  both  parties  were 
gathering  strength  for  a  renewal  of  the  struggle. 

The  Fall  of  Syracuse  and  of  Capua.  —  In  the  year  216  b.c, 
Hiero,  king  of  Syracuse,  who  loved  to  call  himself  the  friend  and 
ally  of  the  Roman  people,  died,  and  the  government  fell  into  the 
hands  of  a  party  unfriendly  to  the  republic.  An  alliance  was 
formed  with  Carthage,  and  a  large  part  of  Sicily  was  carried  over 
to  the  side  of  the  enemies  of  Rome.  The  distinguished  Roman 
general,  Marcus  Claudius  Marcellus,  called  "  the  Sword  of  Rome," 
was  intrusted  with  the  task  of  reconquering  the  island.  After 
reducing  many  towns,  he  at  last  laid  siege  to  Syracuse. 

This  noted  capital  was  then  one  of  the  largest  and  richest  cities 
of  the  Grecian  world.  Its  walls  were  strong,  and  enclosed  an  area 
eighteen  miles  in  circuit.  For  three  years  it  held  out  against  the 
Roman  forces.  It  is  said  that  Archimedes,  the  great  mathema- 
tician, rendered  valuable  aid  to  the  besieged  with  curious  and 
powerful  engines  contrived  by  his  genius.     But  the  city  fell  at  last, 

1  Hannibal's  soldiers,  according  to  Livy,  were  fatally  enervated  both  in  their 
bodies  and  their  minds  by  the  influences  of  this  Sybarite  capital.  The  winter 
was  spent  by  them  in  a  round  of  feasting,  drinking,  bathing,  and  indulgences 
of  all  kinds,  so  that  almost  every  trace  of  former  vigor  and  discipline  was  lost. 
It  is  the  opinion  of  persons  versed  in  the  art  of  war,  adds  the  historian,  that 
Hannibal,  in  taking  up  his  winter  quarters  in  Capua,  committed  a  greater  error 
than  when  he  neglected  to  march  upon  Rome  after  the  battle  of  CannK. 

xxni.  18. 


MARCELLUS,  'The  Sword  of  Rome." 


and  was  given  over  to  sack  and  pillage.  Rome  was  adorned 
with  the  rare  works  of  Grecian  art  —  paintings  and  sculptures  — 
which  for  centuries  had  been 
accumulating  in  this  the  oldest 
and  most  renowned  of  the  col- 
onies of  ancient  Hellas.  Syra- 
cuse never  recovered  from  the 
blow  inflicted  upon  her  at  this 
time  by  the  relentless  Romans. 

Capua  must  next  be  punished  for  opening  her  gates  and  ex- 
tending her  hospitalities  to  the  enemies  of  Rome.  A  line  of  cir- 
cumvallation  was  drawn  about  the  devoted  city,  and  two  Roman 
armies  held  it  in  close  siege.  Hannibal,  ever  faithful  to  his  allies 
and  friends,  hastened  to  the  relief  of  the  Capuans.  Unable  to 
break  the  enemy's  lines,  he  marched  directly  upon  Rome,  as  if 
to  make  an  attack  upon  that  city,  hoping  thus  to  draw  off  the 
legions  about  Capua  to  the  defence  of  the  capital.  The  "  dread 
Hannibal "  himself  rode  alongside  the  walls  of  the  hated  city,  and, 
tradition  says,  even  hurled  a  defiant  spear  over  the  defences. 
The  Romans  certainly  were  trembling  with  fear ;  yet  Livy  tells 
how  they  manifested  their  confidence  in  their  affairs  by  selling  at 
pubUc  auction  the  land  upon  which  Hannibal  was  encamped. 
He  in  turn,  in  the  same  manner,  disposed  of  the  shops  fronting 
the  Forum.  The  story  is  that  there  were  eager  purchasers  in 
both  cases. 

Failing  to  draw  the  legions  from  Capua  as  he  had  hoped,  Han- 
nibal now  retired  from  before  Rome,  and,  retreating  into  the 
southern  part  of  Italy,  abandoned  Capua  to  its  fate.  It  soon  fell 
and  paid  the  penalty  that  Rome  never  failed  to  inflict  upon  an 
unfaithful  ally.  The  chief  men  in  the  city  were  put  to  death,  and 
a  large  part  of  the  inhabitants  sold  as  slaves  (211  b.c).  Capua 
had  aspired  to  the  first  place  among  the  cities  of  Italy :  scarcely 
more  than  the  name  of  the  ambitious  capital  now  remained. 

« Hasdmbal  in  Spain.  —  During  all   the   years   Hannibal  was 
waging  war  in  Italy,  his  brother  Hasdrubal  was   carrying  on  a 


66 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC   WAR. 


WAR   IN  AFRICA. 


67 


desperate  struggle  with  the  Romans  in  Spain.  His  plan  was  to 
gather  and  lead  an  army  into  Italy  to  the  aid  of  his  brother.  This 
the  Romans  made  every  effort  to  prevent.  Hence,  even  while 
Hannibal  was  threatening  Rome  itself,  we  find  the  Senate  sending 
its  best  legions  and  generals  across  the  sea  into  Spain.  But  Has- 
drubal  possessed  much  of  the  martial  genius  of  his  brother,  and 
proved  more  than  a  match  for  the  Scipios  who  commanded  the 
Roman  levies.  Yet  the  fortunes  of  war  were  more  fickle  here 
than  in  Italy.  At  one  time  the  Carthaginians  were  almost  driven 
out  of  the  peninsula ;  and  then  the  whole  was  regained  by  the 
genius  of  Hasdrubal,  and  the  two  Scipios^  were  slain.  Another 
army,  under  the  command  of  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio,  was  sent 
to  regain  it  and  keep  Hasdrubal  engaged.  The  war  was  renewed, 
but  without  decided  results  on  either  side,  and  Hasdrubal  deter- 
mined to  leave  its  conduct  to  others,  and  go  to  the  relief  of  his 
brother,  who  was  sadly  in  need  of  aid  ;  for  the  calamities  of  war 
were  constantly  thinning  his  ranks.  Like  Pyrrhus,  he  had  been 
brought  to  realize  that  even  constant  victories  won  by  the  loss  of 
soldiers  that  could  not  be  replaced  meant  final  defeat. 

Battle  of  the  Metaurus  (207  b.c.).  — Hasdrubal  followed  the 
same  route  that  had  been  taken  by  his  brother  Hannibal,  and  in 
the  year  207  B.C.  descended  from  the  Alps  upon  the  plains  of 
Northern  Italy.  Thence  he  advanced  southward,  while  Hannibal 
moved  northward  from  Bruttium  to  meet  him.  Rome  made  a 
last  effort  to  ward  off  the  double  danger.  One  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  men  were  put  into  the  field.  One  of  the  consuls,  Gaius 
Claudius  Nero,  was  to  obstruct  Hannibal's  march  ;  while  the  other, 
Marcus  Livius,  was  to  oppose  Hasdrubal  in  the  north.  The  great 
effort  of  the  Roman  generals  was  to  prevent  the  junction  of  the 
armies  of  the  two  brothers.  Hasdrubal  pressed  on  southward  and 
crossed  the  Metaurus.  From  here  he  sent  a  message  to  Han- 
nibal, appointing  a  meeting-place  only  two  days'  march   from 

1  Publius  and  Gnxus  Scipio,  brothers.     Publius  Cornelius  Scipio  was  the 
son  of  the  aforementioned  Publius  Scipio. 


Rome.  The  messenger  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  consul  Nero. 
In  a  moment  Nero's  plan  was  formed.  With  seven  thousand 
picked  soldiers  he  hastened  northward,  to  join  the  other  consul 
and,  with  their  united  forces,  to  crush  Hasdrubal  before  his 
brother  should  know  of  the  movement.  In  a  few  days  Nero 
reached  the  camp  of  his  colleague  Livius,  in  front  of  which  lay 
the  Carthaginian  army.  As  the  soldiers  of  Nero  entered  the 
camp  of  his  associate  in  the  night,  Hasdrubal  knew  nothing  of 
their  arrival  until  the  next  morning,  when  he  observed  that  the 
trumpet  sounded  twice  from  the  enemy's  camp.  Fearing  to  risk 
a  battle,  he  attempt- 
ed to  fall  back  across 
the  Metaurus.  Mis- 
led by  his  guides,  he 
was  forced  to  turn 
and  give  battle  to 
the  pursuing  Romans. 
His  army  was  entire- 
ly destroyed,  and  he 
himself  was  slain 
(207  B.c). 

Nero  now  hurried 
back  to  face  Hanni- 
bal, bearing  with  him  the  head  of  Hasdrubal.  This  bloody  tro- 
phy he  caused  to  be  hurled  into  the  Carthaginian  camp.  Upon 
recognizing  the  features  of  his  brother,  Hannibal  exclaimed  sadly, 
"  Carthage,  I  see  thy  fate." 

War  in  Africa:  Battle  of  Zama  (202  b.c.).  — The  defeat  and 
death  of  Hasdrubal  gave  a  different  aspect  to  the  war.  Hannibal 
now  drew  back  into  the  rocky  peninsula  of  Bruttium,  the  southern- 
most point  of  Italy.  There  he  faced  the  Romans  like  a  lion  at 
bay.  No  one  dared  attack  him.  It  was  resolved  to  carry  the 
war  into  Africa,  in  hopes  that  the  Carthaginians  would  be  forced 
to  call  their  great  commander  out  of  Italy  to  the  defence  of 
Carthage.     Publius  Cornelius  Scipio,  who  after  the  departure  of 


PUBLIUS    CORNELIUS    SCIPIO   (Africar.us) 


■Ih 


# 


68 


T/f£  SECOND  PUNIC   WAR. 


Hasdrubal  from  Spain  had  quickly  brought  the  peninsula  under 
the  power  of  Rome,  led  the  army  of  invasion.  He  had  not  been 
long  in  Africa  before  the  Carthaginian  Senate  sent  for  Hannibal 
to  conduct  the  war.  At  Zama,  not  far  from  Carthage,  the  hostile 
armies  came  face  to  face.  Fortune  had  deserted  Hannibal ;  he 
was  fighting  against  fote.  He  here  met  his  first  and  final  defeat. 
His  army,  in  which  were  many  of  the  veterans  that  had  served 
through  all  the  Italian  campaigns,  was  almost  annihilated  (202  B.C.) . 

The  Close  of  the  War.  —  Carthage  was  now  completely  ex- 
hausted, and  sued  for  peace.  Even  Hannibal  himself  could  no 
longer  counsel  war.  The  terms  of  the  treaty  were  much  severer 
than  those  imposed  upon  the  city  at  the  end  of  the  First  Punic 
War.  She  was  required  to  give  up  all  claims  to  Spain  and  the 
islands  of  the  Mediterranean ;  to  surrender  her  war  elephants, 
and  all  her  ships  of  war  save  ten  galleys ;  to  pay  an  indemnity  of 
five  thousand  talents  ^  at  once,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  talents 
annually  for  fifty  years;  and  not,  under  any  circumstances,  to 
make  war  upon  an  ally  of  Rome.  Five  hundred  of  the  costly 
Phoenician  war-galleys  were  towed  out  of  the  harbor  of  Carthage 
and  burned  in  the  sight  of  the  citizens  (201  B.C.). 

Such  was  the  end  of  the  Second  Rmic,  or  Hannibalic  War,  as 
called  by  the  Romans,  the  most  desperate  struggle  ever  main- 
tained by  rival  powers  for  empire.  Scipio  was  accorded  a 
splendid  triumph  at  Rome,  and  given  the  surname  Africanus  in 
honor  of  his  achievements. 

1  About  $6,250,000. 


THE  BATTLE   OF  CYNOSCEPHALM, 


69 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  THIRD   PUNIC  WAR. 

(149-146  B.C.) 

Events  between  the  Second  and  the  Third  Punic  War. 

The  terms  imposed  upon  Carthage  at  the  end  of  the  Second 
Punic  War  left  Rome  mistress  of  the  Western  Mediterranean. 
During  the  fifty  eventful  years  that  elapsed  between  the  close  of 
that  struggle  and  the  breaking  out  of  the  last  Punic  war,  her 
authority  became  supreme  also  in  the  Eastern  seas.  In  another 
place,*  while  narrating  the  fortunes  of  the  most  important  states 
into  which  the  great  empire  of  Alexander  was  broken  at  his  death, 
we  followed  them  until  one  after  another  they  fell  beneath  the 
arms  of  Rome,  and  were  successively  absorbed  into  her  growing 
kingdom.  We  shall  therefore  speak  of  them  here  only  in  the 
briefest  manner,  simply  indicating  the  connection  of  their  several 
histories  with  the  series  of  events  which  mark  the  advance  of 
Rome  to  universal  empire. 

The  Battle  of  Cynoscephalse  (197  b.c).  —  During  the  Hanni- 
balic War,  Philip  V.  (HI.)  of  Macedonia  had  aided  the  Cartha- 
ginians, or  at  least  had  entered  into  an  alliance 
with  them.  He  was  now  troubling  the  Greek 
cities  which  were  under  the  protection  of 
Rome.  For  these  things  the  Roman  Senate 
determined  to  punish  him.  An  army  under 
Flamininus  was  sent  into  Greece,  and  on  the 
plains  of  Cynoscephalse,  in  Thessaly,  the  Ro- 
man legion  demonstrated  its  superiority  over 
the  unwieldy  Macedonian  phalanx^  by  subjecting  Philip  to  a  most 


PHILIP  v.,  of  Macedonia. 


^  See  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece^  pp.  273-281.      ^  Jbid.^  p.  259,  note. 


70 


THE    THIRD  TUNIC    WAR. 


disastrous  defeat  (197  B.C.).  The  king  was  forced  to  give  up  all 
his  conquests,  and  the  Greek  cities  that  had  been  in  subjection  to 
Macedonia  were  declared  free.  Flamininus  read  the  edict  of 
emancipation  to  the  Greeks  assembled  at  Corinth  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Isthmian  games.  The  decree  was  received  with  the 
greatest  enthusiasm  and  rejoicing,  and  Flamininus  was  called  by 
the  grateful  Greeks  the  Restorer  of  Greek  liberties.  Unfortu- 
nately the  Greeks  had  lost  all  capacity  for  freedom  and  self- 
government,  and  the  anarchy  into  which  their  affairs  soon  fell 
afforded  the  Romans  an  excuse  for  extending  their  rule  over 
Greece. 

The  Battle  of  Magnesia  (190  b.c).  —  Antiochus  the  Great  of 
Syria  had  at  this  time  not  only  overrun  all  Asia  Minor,  but  had 


ANTIOCHUS  THE  GREAT. 

crossed  the  Hellespont  into  Europe,  and  was  intent  upon  the 
conquest  of  Thrace  and  Greece.  Rome,  that  could  not  entertain 
the  idea  of  a  rival  empire  upon  the  southern  shores  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, could  much  less  tolerate  the  establishment  in  the  East 
of  such  a  colossal  kingdom  as  the  ambition  of  Antiochus  proposed 
to  itself.  Just  as  soon  as  intelligence  was  carried  to  Italy  that  the 
Syrian  king  was  leading  his  army  into  Greece,  the  legions  of  the 
republic  were  set  in  motion.  Some  reverses  caused  Antiochus  to 
retreat  in  haste  across  the  Hellespont  into  Asia,  whither  he  was 
followed  by  the  Romans,  led  by  Scipio,  a  brother  of  Africanus. 

At  Magnesia,  Antiochus  was  overthrown,  and  a  large  part  of  Asia 
Minor  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans.  Not  yet  prepared  to 
maintain  provinces  so  distant  from  the  Tiber,  the  Senate  conferred 


THE  BATTLE    OF  PYDNA. 


71 


the  new  territory,  with  the  exception  of  Lycia  and  Caria,  which 
were  given  to  the  Rhodians,  upon  their  friend  and  ally  Eumenes, 
king  of  Pergamus.i  This  "  Kingdom  of  Asia,"  as  it  was  called, 
was  really  nothing  more  dian  a  dependency  of  Rome,  and  its 
nominal  ruler  only  a  puppet-king  in  the  hands  of  the  Roman 
Senate.  . 

Scipio  enjoyed  a  magnificent  triumph  at  Rome,  and,  in  accord- 
ance with  a  custom  that  had  now  become  popular  with  successful 
generals,  erected  a  memorial  of  his  deeds  in  his  name  by  assum- 
ing the  tide  of  Asiaticus. 

The  Battle  of  Pydna  (168  b.c.).  — In  a  few  years  Macedonia, 
under  the  leadership  of  Perseus,  son  of 
Philip  v.,  was  again  in  arms  and  offering 
defiance  to  Rome  ;  but  in  the  year  168  b.c. 
the  Roman  consul  ^^milius  Paulus  crushed 
the  Macedonian  power  forever  upon  the 
memorable  field  of  Pydna.  This  was  one 
of  the  decisive  batdes  fought  by  the  Ro- 
mans in  their  struggle  for  the  dominion  of 
the  worid.  The  last  great  power  in  the 
East  was  here  broken.  The  Roman  Senate  was  henceforth  recog- 
nized by  the  whole  civilized  worid  as  the  source  and  fountain 
of  supreme  poliUcal  wisdom  and  power.  We  shall  have  yet  to 
record  many  campaigns  of  the  Roman  legions ;  but  these  were 
efforts  to  suppress  revolt  among  dependent  or  semi-vassal  states, 
or  were  struggles  with  barbarian  tribes  that  skirted  the  Roman 
dominions. 

The  Destruction  of  Corinth  (146  b.c.).  — Barely  twenty  years 
had  passed  after  the  destruction  of  the  Macedonian  monarchy 
before  the  cities  and  states  that  formed  the  Achcean  League  ^  were 
goaded  to  revolt  by  the  injustice  of  their  Roman  protectors.  In 
the  year  146  b.c.  the  consul  Mummius  signalized  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion  by  the  complete  destruction  of  the  brilliant  city  of 

1  See  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece,  p.  276,  note.  2  juj^^  p  280. 


PERSEUS,  of   Mac:donia. 


72 


THE   THIRD  PUNIC  WAR, 


''CARTHAGE  MUST  BE  DESTROYED?' 


73 


§ 


Corinth,  the  "  eye  of  Hellas,"  as  in  expressive  figure  it  has  been 
called.  This  fair  capital,  the  most  beautiful  and  renowned  of  all 
the  cities  of  Greece  after  the  fall  of  Athens,  was  sacked  and  razed 
to  the  ground.  Much  of  the  booty  was  sold  on  the  spot  at  pub- 
lic auction.  Numerous  works  of  art,  —  rare  paintings  and  sculp- 
tures, —  with  which  the  city  was  crowded,  were  carried  off  to  Italy. 
"  Never  before  or  after,"  says  Long,  "  was  such  a  display  of  the 
wonders  of  Grecian  art  carried  in  triumphal  procession  through 
the  streets  of  Rome." 

The  Fate  of  Hannibal  and  of  Scipio.  —  Among  the  many  events 
that  crowded  the  brief  period  we  are  reviewing,  we  must  not  fail 
to  notice  the  fate  of  the  two  great  actors  in  the  Hannibalic  War. 
Soon  after  the  battle  of  Zama,  and  the  treaty  between  Carthage 
and  Rome,  Hannibal  was  chosen  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the 
former  city.  In  this  position  he  introduced  much-needed  reform 
into  every  department  of  the  government,  and  secured  to  the  capi- 
tal a  period  of  prosperity  and  rapid  growth.  But  his  measures 
stirred  up  not  only  enmity  at  home,  but  jealousy  at  Rome.  The 
Roman  Senate,  fearing  Hannibal  as  a  statesman  as  much  as  they 
dreaded  him  as  a  general,  demanded  of  the  Carthaginians  his 
surrender.  While  they  were  deliberating  whether  to  give  up  their 
great  commander,  Hannibal  fled  across  the  sea  to  Ephesus,  in 
Asia  Minor.  Here  he  was  received  by  Antiochus  with  such  marks 
of  honor  as  became  his  deeds  and  genius. 

Upon  the  defeat  of  Antiochus  at  Magnesia,  the  Romans  de- 
manded that  Hannibal  should  be  given  up  to  them.  Again  the 
exile  fled  from  his  implacable  foes,  and  at  last  found  a  refuge 
with  the  prince  of  Bithynia,  in  a  remote  district  of  Asia  Minor. 
Yet  even  there  Roman  hatred  pursued  him.  It  seemed  as  though 
there  was  no  spot  in  all  the  world  where  the  arm  of  Rome  did 
not  reach.  His  new  friend  could  not  shield  him;  and,  deter- 
mined not  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  his  foes,  Hannibal  took  his 
own  life  by  means  of  poison,  and  died  faithful  to  his  vow  of  eter- 
nal hatred  to  the  Roman  race  (about  183  B.C.). 

Almost  equally  bitter  was  the  cup  which  the  ungrateful  Romans 


forced  to  the  lips  of  the  conqueror  of  Hannibal.  After  the  battle 
of  Zama,  Scipio  Africanus  gave  himself  to  politics,  but  soon  raised 
about  himself  a  perfect  storm  of  unmerited  abuse  and  persecution. 
Leaving  Rome,  he  went  into  a  sort  of  voluntary  exile  at  his  coun- 
try-seat near  Liternum,  in  Campania.  He  died  about  the  same 
time  that  witnessed  the  death  of  Hannibal.  Upon  his  tomb  was 
placed  this  inscription,  which  he  himself  had  dictated :  "  Ungrate- 
ful country,  thou  shalt  not  possess  even  my  ashes.'' 

The  Third  Punic  War. 

*'  Carthage  must  be  destroyed."  —  The  same  year  that  Rome 
destroyed  Corinth  (146  B.C.),  she  also  blotted  her  great  rival  Car- 
thage from  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  will  be  recalled  that  one  of 
the  conditions  imposed  upon  the  last-named  city  at  the  close  of 
the  Second  Punic  War  was  that  she  should,  under  no  circumstances, 
engage  in  war  with  an  ally  of  Rome.  Taking  advantage  of  the 
helpless  condition  of  Carthage,  Masinissa,  king  of  Numidia  and 
an  ally  of  Rome,  began  to  make  depredations  upon  her  territories. 
She  appealed  to  Rome  for  protection.  The  envoys  sent  to  Africa 
by  the  Senate  to  settle  the  dispute,  unfairly  adjudged  every  case  in 
favor  of  the  robber  Masinissa.  In  this  way  Carthage  was  deprived 
of  her  lands  and  towns. 

Chief  of  one  of  the  embassies  sent  out  was  Marcus  Cato,  the 
Censor.  When  he  saw  the  prosperity  of  Carthage,  —  her  immense 
trade,  which  crowded  her  harbor  with  ships,  and  the  country  for 
miles  back  of  the  city  a  beautiful  landscape  of  gardens  and  villas, 
—  he  was  amazed  at  the  growing  power  and  wealth  of  the  city, 
and  returned  home  convinced  that  the  safety  of  Rome  demanded 
the  destruction  of  her  rival.  Never  afterwards  did  he  address  the 
Romans,  no  matter  upon  what  subject,  but  he  always  ended  with 
the  words,  "  Carthage  must  be  destroyed  "  {delenda  est  Carthago). 

Eoman  Perfidy.  —  A  pretext  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
hateful  work  was  not  long  wanting.  In  150  b.c.  the  Carthagin- 
ians, when  Masinissa  made  another  attack  upoD   their  territory. 


74 


T//E    THIRD  PUNIC   WAR. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  CARTHAGE. 


7S 


instead  of  calling  upon  Rome,  from  which  source  the  past  had 
convinced  them  they  could  hope  for  neither  aid  nor  justice, 
gathered  an  army,  and  resolved  to  defend  themselves.  Their 
forces,  however,  were    defeated  by  the   Numidians,   and    sent 

beneath  the  yoke. 

In  entering  upon  this  war  Carthage  had  broken  the  conditions 
of  the  last  treaty.  The  Carthaginian  Senate,  in  great  anxiety,  now 
sent  an  embassy  to  Italy  to  offer  any  reparation  the  Romans 
might  demand.  They  were  told  that  if  they  would  give  three 
hundred  hostages,  members  of  the  noblest  Carthaginian  families, 
the  independence  of  their  city  should  be  respected.  They  eagerly 
complied  with  this  demand.  But  no  sooner  were  these  in 
the  hands  of  the  Romans  than  the  consular  armies,  numbering 
80,000  men,  secured  against  attack  by  the  hostages  so  perfidiously 
drawn  from  the  Carthaginians,  crossed  from  Sicily  into  Africa, 
and  disembarked  at  Utica,  only  ten  miles  from  Carthage. 

The  Carthaginians  were  now  commanded  to  give  up  all  their 
arms ;  still  hoping  to  win  their  enemy  to  clemency,  they  complied 
with  this  demand  also.  Then  the  consuls  made  knowTi  the  final 
decree  of  the  Roman  Senate,  —  "  That  Carthage  must  be  destroyed, 
but  that  the  inhabitants  might  build  a  new  city,  provided  it  were 
located  ten  miles  from  the  coast." 

When  this  resolution  of  the  Senate  was  announced  to  the  Car- 
thaginians, and  they  realized  the  baseness  and  perfidy  of  their 
enemy,  a  cry  of  indignation  and  despair  burst  from  the  be- 
trayed city. 

The  Carthaginians  prepare  to  defend  their  City.  —  It  was  re- 
solved to  resist  to  the  bitter  end  the  execution  of  the  cruel  decree. 
The  gates  of  the  city  were  closed.  Men,  women,  and  children 
set  to  work  and  labored  day  and  night  manufacturing  arms.  The 
entire  city  was  converted  into  one  great  workshop.  The  utensils 
of  the  home  and  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  temples,  statues,  and 
vases  were  melted  down  for  weapons.  Material  was  torn  from 
the  buildings  of  the  city  for  the  construction  of  military  engines. 
The  women  cut  off  their  hair  and  braided  it  into  strings  for  the 


catapults.     By  such  labor,  and  through  such  means,  the  city  was 
soon  put  in  a  state  to  withstand  a  siege. 

When  the  Romans  advanced  to  take  possession  of  the  place, 
they  were  astonished  to  find  the  people  they  had  just  treacher- 
ously disarmed,  with  weapons  in  their  hands,  manning  the  walls  of 
their  capital,  and  ready  to  bid  them  defiance. 

The  Destruction  of  Carthage  (146  b.c.).  — It  is  impossible  for 
us  here  to  give  the  circumstances  of  the  siege  of  Carthage.  For 
four  years  the  city  held  out  against  the  Roman  army.  At  length 
the  consul  Scipio  ^milianus  succeeded  in  taking  it  by  storm. 
When  resistance  ceased,  only  50,000  men,  women,  and  children, 
out  of  a  population  of  700,000,  remained  to  be  made  prisoners. 
The  city  was  fired,  and  for  seventeen  days  the  space  within  the 
walls  was  a  sea  of  flames.  Every  trace  of  building  which  the  fire 
could  not  destroy  was  levelled,  a  plough  was  driven  over  the  site, 
and  a  dreadful  curse  invoked  upon  any  one  who  should  dare 
attempt  to  rebuild  the  city. 

Such  was  the  hard  fate  of  Carthage.  It  is  said  that  Scipio,  as 
he  gazed  upon  the  smouldering  ruins,  seemed  to  read  in  them  the 
fate  of  Rome,  and,  bursting  into  tears,  sadly  repeated  the  lines  of 
Homer :  — 

"  The  day  shall  come  in  which  our  sacred  Troy, 
And  Priam,  and  the  people  over  whom 
Spear-bearing  Priam  rules,  shall  perish  all." 

The  Carthaginian  territory  in  Africa  was  made  into  a  Roman 
province,  with  Utica  as  the  leading  city ;  and  Roman  civilization 
was  spread  rapidly,  by  means  of  traders  and  settlers,  throughout 
the  regions  that  lie  between  the  ranges  of  the  Atlas  and  the  sea. 

War  in  Spain. 

Siege  of  Numantia.  —  It  is  fitting  that  the  same  chapter  which 
narrates  the  destruction  of  Corinth  in  Greece,  and  the  blotting- 
out  of  Carthage  in  Africa,  should  tell  the  story  of  the  destruction 
of  Numantia  in  Spain. 


76 


THE    THIRD  PUNIC   WAR, 


The  expulsion  of  the  Carthaginians  from  the  Spanish  peninsula 
really  gave  Rome  the  control  of  only  a  small  part  of  that  country. 
The  warlike  native  tribes  —  the  Celtiberians  and  Lusitanians  — 
of  the  North  and  the  West  were  ready  stubbornly  to  dispute  with 
the  new-comers  the  possession  of  the  soil.  The  treachery  of  the 
Roman  generals  inflamed  the  natives  to  a  desperate  revolt  under 
Viriathus,  a  Lusitanian  chief,  who  has  been  compared  in  his  char- 
acter and  deeds  to  Wallace  of  Scotland.  Finally  Scipio  ^milianus, 
the  conqueror  of  Carthage,  was  given  the  chief  command.  He 
began  by  reforming  the  army,  which  had  become  shamefully  disso- 
lute. The  crowds  of  merchants  were  driven  out  of  the  camp ;  the 
wagons  in  which  the  effeminate  soldiers  were  accustomed  to  ride 
were  sold,  and  once  more  the  Roman  legions  marched,  instead  of 
riding,  to  battle. 

With  the  army  in  proper  discipline  for  service,  Scipio  rein- 
vested Numantia,  which  had  already  withstood  nine  years  of  siege. 
The  brave  defenders  numbered  barely  8000  men,  while  the  lines 
of  circumvallation  that  hedged  them  in  were  kept  by  60,000  sol- 
diers. Famine  at  last  gave  the  place  into  the  hands  of  Scipio, 
after  almost  all  the  inhabitants  had  met  death,  either  in  defence 
of  the  walls,  or  by  deliberate  suicide.  The  miserable  remnant 
which  the  ravages  of  battle,  famine,  pestilence,  and  despair  had 
left  alive  were  sold  into  slavery,  and  the  city  was  levelled  to  the 
ground  (133  B.C.). 

The  capture  of  Numantia  was  considered  quite  as  great  an 
achievement  as  the  taking  of  Carthage.  Scipio  celebrated  another 
triumph  at  Rome,  and  to  his  surname  Africanus  added  that  of 
Numantinus.  Spain  became  a  favorite  resort  of  Roman  mer- 
chants, and  many  colonies  were  established  in  different  parts  ot 
the  country.  As  a  result  of  this  great  influx  of  Italians,  the  laws, 
manners,  customs,  language,  and  religion  of  the  conquerors  were 
introduced  everywhere,  and  the  peninsula  became  rapidly  Roman- 
ized. 


THE  SERVILE    WAR  IN  SICILY. 


77 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 

(133-31  B.C.) 

We  have  now  traced  the  growth  of  the  power  of  republican 
Rome,  as  through  two  centuries  and  more  of  conquest  she  has 
extended  her  authority,  first  throughout  Italy,  and  then  over 
almost  all  the  countries  that  border  upon  the  Mediterranean. 
It  must  be  our  less  pleasant  task  now  to  follow  the  declining  for- 
tunes of  the  republic  through  the  last  century  of  its  existence. 
We  shall  here  learn  that  wars  waged  for  spoils  and  dominion  are 
in  the  end  more  ruinous,  if  possible,  to  the  conqueror  than  to  the 
conquered. 

The  Servile  War  in  Sicily  (134-132  b.c.).  — With  the  open- 
ing of  this  period  we  find  a  terrible  struggle  going  on  in  Sicily 
between  masters  and  slaves  —  or  what  is  known  as  "  The  First 
Servile  War."  The  condition  of  affairs  in  that  island  was  the 
legitimate  result  of  the  Roman  system  of  slavery.  The  captives 
taken  in  war  were  usually  sold  into  servitude.  The  great  number 
of  prisoners  furnished  by  the  numerous  conquests  of  the  Romans 
caused  slaves  to  become  a  drug  in  the  slave-markets  of  the  Roman 
world.  They  were  so  cheap  that  masters  found  it  more  profitable 
to  wear  their  slaves  out  by  a  i^vi  years  of  unmercifully  hard  labor, 
and  then  to  buy  others,  than  to  preserve  their  lives  for  a  longer 
period  by  more  humane  treatment.  In  case  of  sickness,  they 
were  left  to  die  without  attention,  as  the  expense  of  nursing  ex- 
ceeded the  cost  of  new  purchases.  Some  Sicilian  estates  were 
worked  by  as  many  as  20,000  slaves.  That  each  owner  might 
know  his  own,  the  poor  creatures  were  branded  like  cattle.  What 
makes  all  this  the  more  revolting  is  the  fact  that  many  of  these 
slaves  were  in  every  way  the  peers  of  their  owners,  and  often  were 


78 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


THE  PUBLIC  LANDS. 


79 


; 


their  superiors.     The  fortunes  of  war  alone  had  made  one  servant 
and  the  other  master. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  estates  in  Sicily  were  simply 
grazing  farms,  their  proprietors  finding  the  raising  of  wool  for 
the  clothing  of  the  Roman  legions  more  profitable  than  the  cul- 
tivation of  grain.  The  slaves  that  tended  the  flocks  on  these 
farms  received  from  their  masters  neither  pay,  food,  nor  clothing. 
They  were  expected  to  supply  their  needs  from  the  herds  they 
tended,  and  by  robbing  travellers  on  the  highways  and  plundering 
the  dwellings  of  the  peasants.  They  were  well  armed,  and  were 
always  accompanied  by  fierce  dogs.  The  magistrates  dared  not 
punish  them  for  their  misdeeds,  through  fear  of  their  masters,  who 
were  all-powerful  at  Rome. 

The  wretched  condition  of  these  slaves  and  the  cruelty  of  their 
masters  at  last  drove  them  to  revolt.  The  insurrection  spread 
throughout  the  island,  until  200,000  slaves  were  in  arms,  and  in 
possession  of  many  of  the  strongholds  of  the  country.  They  de- 
feated four  Roman  armies  sent  against  them,  and  for  three  years 
defied  the  power  of  Rome.  Finally,  however,  in  the  year  132  B.C., 
the  revolt  was  crashed,  and  peace  was  restored  to  the  distracted 

island.* 

The  Public  Lands.  —  In  Italy  itself  affairs  were  in  a  scarcely 
less  wretched  condition  than  in  Sicily.  When  the  different  states 
of  the  peninsula  were  subjugated,  large  portions  of  the  conquered 
territory  had  become  public  land  {ager  publicus)  ;  for  upon  the 
subjugation  of  a  state  Rome  never  left  to  the  conquered  people 
more  than  two-thirds  of  their  lands,  and  often  not  so  much  as 
this.  The  land  appropriated  was  disposed  of  at  public  sale,  leased 
at  low  rentals,  allotted  to  discharged  soldiers,  or  allowed  to  lie 
unused** 

1  In  the  year  102  B.C.  another  insurrection  of  the  slaves  broke  out  in  the 
island,  which  it  required  three  years  to  quell.  This  last  revolt  is  known  as 
•*The  Second  Servile  War." 

«  These  land  matters  may  be  made  plain  by  a  reference  to  the  public  lands 
of  the  United  States.    The  troubles  in  Ireland  between  the  land-owners  and 


Now,  it  had  happened  that,  in  various  ways,  the  greater  part  of 
the  public  lands  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  wealthy.  They 
alone  had  the  capital  necessary  to  stock  and  work  them  to  advan- 
tage ;  hence  the  possessions  of  the  small  proprietors  were  gradu- 
ally absorbed  by  the  large  landholders.  These  great  proprietors, 
also,  disregarding  a  law  which  forbade  any  person  to  hold  more 
than  five  hundred  jugera  of  land,  held  many  times  that  amount. 
Almost  all  the  lands  of  Italy,  about  the  beginning  of  the  first  cen- 
tury B.C.,  are  said  to  have  been  held  by  not  more  than  2000 
persons;  for  the  large  proprietors,  besides  the  lands  they  had 
secured  by  purchase  from  the  government,  or  had  wrested  from 
the  smaller  farmers,  claimed  enormous  tracts  to  which  they  had 
only  a  squatter's  title.  So  long  had  they  been  left  in  undisturbed 
possession  of  these  government  lands  that  they  had  come  to  look 
upon  them  as  absolutely  their  own.  In  many  cases,  feeling  secure 
through  great  lapse  of  time,  —  the  lands  having  been  handed  down 
through  many  generations,  —  the  owners  had  expended  large  sums 
in  their  improvement,  and  now  resisted  as  very  unjust  every  effort 
to  dispossess  them  of  their  hereditary  estates.  Money-lenders, 
too,  had,  in  many  instances,  made  loans  upon  these  lands,  and 
they  naturally  sided  with  the  owners  in  their  opposition  to  all 
efforts  to  disturb  the  titles. 

These  wealthy  "possessors'*  employed  slave  rather  than  free 
labor,  as  they  found  it  more  profitable;  and  so  the  poorer 
Romans,  left  without  employment,  crowded  into  the  cities,  espe- 
cially congregating  at  Rome,  where  they  lived  in  vicious  indo- 
lence. The  proprietors  also  found  it  for  their  interest  to  raise  stock 
rather  than  to  cultivate  the  soil.  All  Italy  became  a  great  sheep- 
pasture. 

Thus,  largely  through  the  workings  of  the  public  land  system, 
the  Roman  people  had  become  divided  into  two  great  classes, 
which  are  variously  designated  as  the  Rich  and  the  Poor,  the  Pos- 


their  tenants  will  also  serve  to  illustrate  the  agrarian  disturbances  in  ancient 
Rome. 


80 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


sessors  and  the  Non- Possessors,  the  Optimates  (the  "Best")  and 
the  Populares  (the  "  People  ").  We  hear  nothing  more  of  patri- 
cians and  plebeians.  As  one  expresses  it,  "  Rome  had  become  a 
commonwealth  of  millionnaires  and  beggars." 

For  many  years  before  and  after  the  period  at  which  we  have 
now  arrived,  a  bitter  struggle  was  carried  on  between  these  two 
classes ;  just  such  a  contest  as  we  have  seen  waged  between  the 
nobihty  and  the  commonalty  in  the  earlier  history  of  Rome.  The 
most  instructive  portion  of  the  story  of  the  Roman  repubUc  is 
found  in  the  records  of  this  later  struggle.  The  misery  of  the 
great  masses  naturally  led  to  constant  agitation  at  the  capital. 
Popular  leaders  introduced  bill  after  bill  into  the  Senate,  and 
brought  measure  after  measure  before  the  assemblies  of  the 
people,  all  aiming  at  the  redistribution  of  the  public  lands  and 
,the  correction  of  existing  abuses. 

The  Kef orms  of  the  Gracchi.  —  The  most  noted  champions  of 
the  cause  of  the  poorer  classes  against  the  rich  and  powerful  were 
Tiberius  and  Gaius  Gracchus.  These  reformers  are  reckoned 
among  the  most  popular  orators  that  Rome  ever  produced.  They 
eloquendy  voiced  the  wrongs  of  the  people.  Said  Tiberius,  "  You 
are  called  *  lords  of  the  earth '  without  possessing  a  single  clod  to 
call  your  own."  The  people  made  him  tribune;  and  in  that 
position  he  secured  the  passage  of  a  law  for  the  redistribution  of 
the  public  lands,  which  gave  some  relief.  It  took  away  from 
Possessors  without  sons  all  the  land  they  held  over  five  hundred 
jugera ;  Possessors  with  one  son  might  hold  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  jugera,  and  those  with  two  sons  one  thousand. 

At  the  end  of  his  term  of  office,  Tiberius  stood  a  second  time 
for  the  tribunate.  The  nobles  combined  to  defeat  him.  Fore- 
seeing that  he  would  not  be  re-elected,  Tiberius  resolved  to  use 
force  upon  the  day  of  voting.  His  partisans  were  overpowered, 
and  he  and  three  hundred  of  his  followers  were  killed  in  the 
Forum,  and  their  bodies  thrown  into  the  Tiber  (133  B.C.).  This 
was  the  first  time  that  the  Roman  Forum  had  witnessed  such  a 
scene  of  violence  and  crime. 


THE  REFORMS   OF  THE   GRACCHL 


81 


Gaius  Gracchus,  the  younger  brother  of  Tiberius,  now  assumed 
the  position  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Tiberius.  It  is  related 
that  Gaius  had  a  dream  in  which  the  spirit  of  his  brother  seemed 
to  address  him  thus  :  *' Gaius,  why  do  you  linger?  There  is  no 
escape  :  one  life  for  both  of  us,  and  one  death  in  defence  of  the 
people,  is  our  fate."  The  dream  came  true.  Gaius  was  chosen 
tribune  in  1 23  B.C.  He  secured  the  passage  of  grain-laws  which 
provided  that  grain  should  be  sold  to  the  poor  from  public  grana- 
ries at  half  its  value  or  less.  This  was  a  very  unwise  and  perni- 
cious measure.  It  was  not  long  before  grain  was  distributed  free 
to  all  applicants ;  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  population  of 
the  capital  were  living  in  vicious  indolence  and  feeding  at  the 
public  crib. 

Gaius  proposed  other  measures  in  the  interest  of  the  people, 
which  were  bitterly  opposed  by  the  Optimates ;  and  the  two  orders 
at  last  came  into  collision.  Gaius  sought  death  by  a  friendly 
sword  (121  B.C.),  and  3000  of  his  adherents  were  massacred. 
The  consul  offered  for  the  head  of  Gaius  its  weight  in  gold. 
"  This  is  the  first  instance  in  Roman  history  of  head-money  being 
offered  and  paid,  but  it  was  not  the  last  "  (Long). 

The  people  ever  regarded  the  Gracchi  as  martyrs  to  their  cause, 
and  their  memory  was  preserved  by  statues  in  the  public  square. 
To  Cornelia,  their  mother,  a  monument  was  erected,  bearing  the 
simple  inscription,  "  The  Mother  of  the  Gracchi." 

The  War  with  Jugurtha  (111-106  b.c.).  — After  the  death 
of  the  Gracchi  there  seemed  no  one  left  to  resist  the  heardess 
oppressions  and  to  denounce  the  scandalous  extravagances  of  the 
aristocratic  party.  Many  of  the  laws  of  the  Gracchi  respecting 
the  public  lands  were  annulled.  Italy  fell  again  into  the  hands  of 
a  few  over-rich  land-owners.  The  provinces  were  plundered  by 
the  Roman  governors,  who  squandered  their  ill-gotten  wealth  at 
the  capital.  The  votes  of  senators  and  the  decisions  of  judges, 
the  offices  at  Rome  and  the  places  in  the  provinces  —  everything 
pertaining  to  the  government  had  its  price,  and  was  bought  and 
sold  like  merchandise.     Affairs  in  Africa  at  this  time  illustrate  how 


82  LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 

Roman  virtue  and  integrity  had  declined  since  Fabricius  indig- 
nandy  refused  the  gold  of  Pyrrhus. 

Jugurtha,  king  of  Numidia,  had  seized  all  that  country,  having 
put  to  death  the  rightful  rulers  of  different  provinces  of  the  same, 
who  had   been   confirmed   in   their  possessions  by  the  Romans 
at  the  close  of  the  Punic  wars.     Commissioners  sent  from  Rome 
to  look  into   the  matter  were  bribed  by  Jugurtha.     Finally,  the 
Numidian  robber,  in  carrying  out  some  of  his  high-handed  meas- 
ures, put  to  death  some  Italian  merchants.     War  was  immediately 
declared  by  the  Roman  Senate,  and  the  consul  Bestia  was  sent 
into  Africa  with  an  army,  to  punish  the  insolent  usurper.     Bestia 
sold  himself  to  Jugurtha,  and,  instead  of  chastising  him,  confirmed 
him  in  his  stolen  possessions.     We  should  naturally  suppose  that 
the  Senate  would  have  administered   some  wholesome  correction 
to  the  mercenary  consul  upon  his  return.     But  the  wily  general, 
anticipating  this,  had  taken  with  him  the  president  of  that  body, 
and  had  divided  with  him  the  spoils. 

The  indignation  of  the  people,  who  had  good  reason  to  suspect 
the  real  state  of  affairs,  was  great.  They  demanded  that  Jugurtha, 
with  the  promise  of  immunity  to  himself,  should  be  invited  to 
Rome,  and  encouraged  to  disclose  the  whole  transaction,  in  order 
that  those  who  had  betrayed  the  state  for  money  might  be  pun- 
ished. Jugurtha  came  ;  but  the  gold  of  the  consul  and  president 
bribed  one  of  the  tribunes  to  prohibit  the  king  from  giving  his 

testimony. 

Now  it  so  happened  that  there  was  in  Rome  at  this  time  a  rival 
claimant  of  the  Numidian  throne,  who  at  this  very  moment  was 
urging  his  claims  before  the  Senate.  Jugurtha  caused  this  rival  to 
be  assassinated.  As  he  himself  was  under  a  safe-conduct,  the 
Senate  could  do  nothing  to  punish  the  audacious  deed  and  to 
resent  the  insult  to  the  state,  save  by  ordering  the  king  to  depart 
from  the  city  at  once.  As  he  passed  the  gates,  it  is  said  that  he 
looked  scornfully  back  upon  the  capital,  and  exclaimed,  "O  venal 
city  1  thou  wouldst  sell  thyself  if  thou  couldst  find  a  purchaser  ! " 

Upon  the  renewal  of  the  war  another  Roman  army  was  sent  into 


INVASION  OF  THE   CIMBRI  AND    TEU TONES. 


83 


Africa,  but  was  defeated  and  forced  beneath  the  yoke.  In  the 
year  io6  b.c.  the  war  was  brought  to  a  close  by  Gaius  Marius,  a 
man  who  had  risen  to  the  consulship  from  the  lowest  ranks  of  the 
people.  Under  him  fought  a  young  nobleman  named  Sulla,  of 
whom  we  shall  hear  much  hereafter.  Marius  celebrated  a  grind 
truimph  at  Rome.  Jugurtha,  after  having  graced  the  triumphal 
procession,  in  which  he  walked  with  his  hands  bound  with  chains, 
was  thrown  into  the  Mamertine  dungeon  beneath  the  Capitoline 
hill,  where  he  died  of  starvation.      ^ 

Invasion  of  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones.  —  The  war  was  not 
yet  ended  in  Africa  before  terrible  tidings  came  to  Rome  from 
the  north.  Two  mighty  nations  of  "  horrible  barbarians,"  300,000 
strong  in  fighting-men,  coming  whence  no  one  could  tell,  had 
invaded  and  were  now  desolating  the  Roman  provinces  of 
Gaul,  and  might  any  moment  cross  the  Alps  and  pour  down  into 
Italy. 

The  mysterious  invaders  proved   to  be  two  Germanic  tribes, 
the  Teutones  and  Cimbri,  the  vanguard  of  that  great  German 
migration  which  was  destined  to  change  the  face  and  history  of 
Europe.     These   intruders  were  seeking  new   homes,  and  were 
driven  on,  it  would  almost  seem,  by  a  blind  and  instinctive  im- 
pulse.    They  carried  with  them,  in  rude  wagons,  all  their  property 
their  wives,  and  their  children.     The  Celtic  tribes  of  Gaul  were 
no  match  for  the  new-comers,  and  fled  before  them  as  they  ad- 
vanced.    Several  Roman  armies  beyond  the  Alps  were  cut  to 
pieces.     In  one  battle  more  than  100,000  Romans  are  said  to  have 
been  slaughtered.     The  terror  at  Rome  was  only  equalled  by  that 
occasioned  by  the  invasion  of  the  Gauls  two  centuries  before. 
The  Gauls  were  terrible  enough ;  but  now  the  conquerors  of  the 
Gauls  were  coming. 

Marius,  the  conqueror  of  Jugurtha,  was  looked  to  by  all  as 
the  only  man  who  could  save  the  state  in  this  crisis.  He  was 
re-elected  to  the  consulship,  and  intrusted  with  the  command 
of  the  armies.  Accompanied  by  Sulla  as  one  of  his  most  skil- 
ful lieutenants,  Marius  hastened  into  Northern  Italy.     The  bar- 


I 


m  LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 

barians  had  divided  into  two  bands.  The  Cimbri  were  to  cross 
the  Eastern  Alps,  and  join  in  the  valley  of  the  Po  die  Teutones, 
who  were  to  force  the  defiles  of  the  Western,  or  Maritime  Alps. 
Marius  determined  to  prevent  the  union  of  the  barbarians,  and  to 
crush  each  band  separately. 

Anticipating  the  march  of  the  Teutones,  he  hurried  over  the 
Alps  into  Gaul,  and  sat  down  in  a  fortified  camp  to  watch  their 
movements.     Unable   to   storm   the    Roman   position,    the   bar- 
barians  resolved  to  leave  their  enemy  in  the  rear  and  push  on 
into  Italy.     For  six  days  and  nights  the  endless  train  of  men 
and  wagons  rolled   past  the  camp  of  Marius.     The   barbarians 
jeered  at  the  Roman  soldiers,  and  asked  them  if  they  had  any 
messages  they  wished  to  send  to  their  wives ;  if  so,  they  would 
bear  them,  as  they  would  be  in  Rome  shortly.     Marius  allowed 
them  to  pass  by,  and  then,  breaking  camp,  followed  closely  after. 
Falling  upon  them   at   a  favorable  moment,  he  almost    annihi- 
lated the  entire  host.^     Two  hundred  thousand   barbarians  are 
said  to  have  been  slain.     Marius  heaped  together  and  burned 
the   spoils   of    the    battle-field.     While    engaged    in   this   work, 
the  news  was  brought  to  him   of  his  re-election  as  consul    for 
the  fifth  time.     This  was  illegal ;  but  the  people  felt  that  Marius 
must  be  kept  in  the  field. 

Marius  now  recrossed  the  Alps,  and,  after  visiting  Rome, 
hastened  to  meet  the  Cimbri,  who  were  entering  the  north- 
eastern corner  of  Italy.  He  was  not  a  day  too  soon.  Already 
the  barbarians  had  defeated  the  Roman  army  under  the  pa- 
trician Catulus,  and  were  ravaging  the  rich  plains  of  the  Po. 
The  Cimbri,  unconscious  of  the  fate  of  the  Teutones,  now  sent 
an  embassy  to  Marius,  to  demand  that  they  and  their  kinsmen 
should  be  given  lands  in  Italy.  Marius  sent  back  in  reply, 
"The  Teutones  have  got  all  the  land  they  need  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Alps."  The  devoted  Cimbri  were  soon  to  have  aU 
they  needed  on  this  side. 

1  In  the  battle  of  Aquae  Sexti?e.  fought  I02  B.C 


THE  SOCIAL,    OR  MARSIC   WAR. 


85 


A  terrible  battle  almost  immediately  followed  at  Vercellae 
(loi  B.C.).  The  barbarians  were  drawn  up  in  an  enormous 
hollow  square,  the  men  forming  the  outer  ranks  being  fastened 
together  with  ropes,  to  prevent  the  lines  being  broken.  This 
proved  their  ruin.  More  than  100,000  were  killed,  and  60,000 
taken  prisoners  to  be  sold  as  slaves  in  the  Roman  markets. 
Marius  was  hailed  as  the  "  Savior  of  his  Country.'* 

The  fate  of  these  two  nations  that  were  wandering  over  the 
face  of  the  earth  in  search  of  homes  is  one  of  the  most  pathetic 
tales  in  all  history.  The  almost  innumerable  host  of  wanderers, 
men,  women,  and  children,  now  "rested  beneath  the  sod,  or 
toiled  under  the  yoke  of  slavery :  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  German 
migration  had  performed  its  duty ;  the  homeless  people  of  the 
Cimbri  and  their  comrades  were  no  more  "  (Mommsen).  Their 
kinsmen  yet  behind  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine  were  destined  to 
exact  a  terrible  revenge  for  their  slaughter. 

The  Social,  or  Marsic  War  (91-89  b.c).  —  Scarcely  was  the 
danger  of  the  barbarian  invasion  past,  before  Rome  was  threatened 
by  another  and  greater  evil  arising  within  her  own  borders.  At 
this  time  all  the  free  inhabitants  of  Italy  were  embraced  in  three 
classes,  —  Roman  citizens,  Latins,  and  Italian  allies.  The  Roman 
citizens  included  the  inhabitants  of  the  capital  and  of  the  various 
Roman  colonies  planted  in  different  parts  of  the  peninsula,^  besides 
the  people  of  a  number  of  towns  called  mufiicipia;  the  Latins 
were  the  inhabitants  of  the  Latin  colonies;^  the  Italian  allies 
{socii)  included  the  various  subjugated  races  of  Italy .^ 

The  Social,  or  Marsic  War  (as  it  is  often  called  on  account  of 
the  prominent  part  taken  in  the  insurrection  by  the  warlike  Mar- 
sians)  was  a  struggle  that  arose  from  the  demands  of  the  Italian 
allies  for  the  privileges  of  Roman  citizenship,  from  which  they 
were  wholly  excluded.  As  the  authority  of  Rome  had  been  grad- 
ually extended  over  the  various  cities  and  states  of  Italy,  only 


1  See  p.  41,  note. 

2  They  enjoyed  local  self-government,  but  were  bound  by  treaty  to  furnish 
contingents  to  the  Roman  army  in  times  of  war. 


I 


86 


LAST  CENTURY  OF   THE   ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


COIN  OF  THE  ITALIAN 
CONFEDERACY. 

(The  Italian  Bull  gonngthe 
Roman  Wolf.) 


a  few  favored  individuals  and  communities  had  been  admitted  to 

a  share  in  the  rights  and  immunities  of  the 
citizens  of  the  capital.  Indeed,  the  world 
had  not  yet  come  to  regard  the  conquered 
as  having  any  rights  whatever.  But  these 
Italians  were  the  same  in  race,  language, 
and  religion  as  their  conquerors  ;  and  it  was 
their  valor  and  blood  that  had  helped  Rome 
to  secure  the  dominion  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean world.  Yet  invidious  and  hateful  dis- 
tinctions separated  them  from  the  citizens  of  the  capital.  A 
Roman  soldier  could  not  be  scourged ;  but  an  alien  might  be 
whipped  to  death,  and  often  was,  without  comment  being  excited 
or  redress  being  possible.  Naturally  the  Italians  complained 
bitterly  of  having  to  fight  for  the  maintenance  of  an  empire  in 
the  management  of  which  they  had  no  voice,  and  under  the  laws 
of  which  they  found  no  protection. 

The  socii  now  demanded  the  Roman  franchise  and  the  immu- 
nities and  privileges  of  citizens.  The  demand  was  stubbornly 
resisted  by  both  the  aristocratical  and  the  popular  party  at  Rome. 
Some,  however,  recognized  the  justice  of  these  claims  of  the 
Italians.  Drusus  championed  their  cause,  but  was  murdered  by 
an  infuriated  mob.  The  Italians  now  flew  to  arms.  They  deter- 
mined upon  the  establishment  of  a  rival  state.  A  town  called 
Corfinium,  among  the  Apennines,  was  chosen  as  the  capital  of 
the  new  republic,  and  its  name  changed  to  Italica.  The  govern- 
ment of  the  new  state  was  modelled  after  that  at  Rome.  Two 
consuls  were  placed  at  the  head  of  the  republic,  and  a  senate 
of  five  hundred  members  was  formed.  Thus,  in  a  single  day, 
almost  all  Italy  south  of  the  Rubicon  was  lost  to  Rome.  The 
Etrurians,  the  Umbrians,  the  Campanians,  the  Latins,  and  some 
of  the  Greek  cities  were  the  only  states  that  remained  faithful. 

The  greatness  of  the  danger  aroused  all  the  old  Roman  courage 
and  patriotism.  Aristocrats  and  democrats  hushed  their  quarrels  ; 
Sulla  and  Marius  forgot  rising  animosities,  and  fought  bravely  side 


THE    CIVIL    WAR    OF  MARIUS  AND   SULLA. 


87 


by  side  for  the  endangered  life  of  the  republic.  An  army  of 
100,000  men  was  raised  to  face  a  force  equal  in  number  and  disci- 
pline that  had  been  gathered  by  the  new  confederacy.  The  war 
lasted  three  years.  Finally  Rome  prudently  extended  the  right  of 
the  franchise  to  the  Latins,  Etruscans,  and  Umbrians,  who  had  so 
far  remained  true  to  her,  but  now  began  to  show  signs  of  wavering 
in  their  loyalty.  Shortly  afterwards  she  offered  the  same  to  all 
Italians  who  should  lay  down  their  arms  within  sixty  days.  This 
tardy  concession  to  the  just  demands  of  the  Italians  virtually  ended 
the  war.  It  had  been  extremely  disastrous  to  the  republic.  Hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  lives  had  been  lost,  many  towns  had  been 
depopulated,  and  vast  tracts  of  the  country  made  desolate  by  those 
ravages  that  never  fail  to  characterize  civil  contentions. 

In  after  years,  under  the  empire,  the  rights  of  Roman  citizen- 
ship, which  the  Italians  had  now  so  hardly  won,  were  extended  to 
all  the  free  inhabitants  of  the  various  provinces  beyond  the  con- 
fines of  Italy  (see  p.  147).  ^ 

The  Civil  War  of  Marius  and  Sulla.  —  The  Social  War  was  not 
yet  ended  when  a  formidable  enemy  appeared  in  the  East.  Mith- 
radates  the  Great,  king  of  Pontus,  taking  advantage  of  the  distracted 
condition  of  the  republic,  had  encroached  upon  the  Roman  prov- 
inces in  Asia  Minor,  and  had  cau.sed  a  general  massacre  of  the 
Italian  traders  and  residents  in  that  country.  The  number  of 
victims  of  this  wholesale  slaughter  has  been  variously  estimated 
at  from  80,000  to  150,000.  The  Roman  Senate  instantly  declared 
war.  But  the  Marsic  struggle  had  drained  the  treasury.  The 
money  needed  for  equipping  an  army  could  be  raised  only  by  the 
sale  of  the  vacant  public  ground  abaut  the  Capitol  building. 

A  contest  straightway  arose  between  Marius  and  Sulla  for  the 
command  of  the  forces.  The  former  was  now  an  old  man  of 
seventy  years,  while  the  latter  was  but  forty-nine.  Marius  could 
not  endure  the  thought  of  being  pushed  aside  by  his  former 
lieutenant.  The  veteran  general  joined  with  the  young  men  in 
the  games  and  exercises  of  the  gymnasium,  to  show  that  his  frame 
was  still  animated   by  the  strength  and  agility  of  youth.     The 


I 


88 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


Senate,  however,  conferred  the  command  upon  Sulla.  Marius 
was  furious  at  the  success  of  his  rival,  and  by  fraud  and  intimida- 
tion succeeded  in  getting  the  command  taken  away  from  Sulla 
and  given  to  himself.  Two  tribunes  were  sent  to  demand  of  Sulla, 
who  was  still  in  Italy,  the  transfer  of  the  command  of  the  legions 
to  Marius ;  but  the  messengers  were  killed  by  the  soldiers,  who 
were  devotedly  attached  to  their  commander.  Sulla  now  saw 
that  the  sword  must  settle  the  dispute.  He  marched  at  the  head 
of  his  legions  upon  Rome,  entered  the  gates,  and  "  for  the  first 
time  in  the  annals  of  the  city  a  Roman  army  encamped  within  the 
walls."  The  party  of  Marius  was  defeated,  and  he  and  ten  of  his 
companions  were  proscribed.  Marius  escaped  and  fled  to  Africa ; 
Sulla  embarked  with  the  legions  to  meet  Mithradates  in  the  East 
(88  B.C.). 

The  Wanderings  of  Marius.  —  Leaving  Sulla  to  carry  on  the 
Mithradatic  War,  v/e  must  first  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  exiled 

Marius.  The  ship  in  which  he  fled  from 
Italy  was  driven  ashore  at  Circeii.  Here 
Marius  and  the  companions  of  his  flight 
wandered  about,  sustained  by  the  hope 
inspired  by  the  good  omen  of  the  seven 
eaglets.  As  the  story  runs,  Marius,  when 
a  boy,  had  captured  an  eagle's  nest  with 
seven  young,  and  the  augurs  had  said  that 
this  signified  that  he  should  be  seven  times 
consul.  He  had  already  held  the  office 
six  times,  and  he  firmly  believed  that  the 
prophecy  would  be  fulfilled  as  to  the 
seventh. 

The  pursuers  of  Marius  at  last  found  him  hiding  in  a  marsh, 
buried  to  his  neck  in  mud  and  water.  He  was  dragged  before 
the  authorities  of  the  town  of  Mintumae.  The  magistrates,  in 
obedience  to  the  commands  that  had  been  sent  everywhere, 
determined  to  put  him  to  death.  A  Cimbrian  slave  was  sent  to 
despatch  him.     The  cell  where  Marius  lay  was  dark,  and  the  eve« 


MARIUS. 


RETURN  OF  MARIUS   TO  ITALY. 


89 


of  the  old  soldier  "seemed  to  flash  fire."  As  the  slave  advanced, 
Marius  shouted,  "Man,  do  you  dare  kill  Gains  Marius?"  The 
frightened  slave  dropped  his  sword,  and  fled  from  the  chamber, 
half  dead  with  fear. 

A  better  feeling  now  took  possession  of  the  men  of  Minturnae, 
and  thev  resolved  that  the  blood  of  the  "  Savior  of  Italv  "  should 
not  be  upon  their  hands.  They  put  him  aboard  a  vessel,  which 
bore  him  and  his  friends  to  an  island  just  off*  the  coast  of  Africa. 
When  he  attempted  to  set  foot  upon  the  mainland  near  Carthage, 
Sextus,  the  Roman  governor  of  the  province,  sent  a  messenger  to 
forbid  him  to  land.  The  legend  says  that  the  old  general,  almost 
choking  with  indignation,  only  answered,  "  Go,  tell  your  master 
that  you  have  seen  Marius  a  fugitive  sitting  amidst  the  ruins  of 
Carthage."      *^ 

The  Return  of  Marius  to  Italy.  —  The  exile  at  length  found  a 
temporary  refuge  on  the  island  of  Cercina,  off"  the  coast  of  Tunis. 
Here  news  was  brought  to  him  that  his  party,  under  the  lead  of 
Cinna,  was  in  successful  revolt  against  the  Optimates,  and  that  he 
was  needed.  He  immediately  set  sail  for  Italy,  and,  landing  in 
Etruria,  joined  Cinna.  Together  they  hoped  to  crush  and  exter- 
minate the  opposing  faction.  Rome  was  cut  off"  from  her  food- 
supplies  and  starved  into  submission. 

Marius  now  took  a  terrible  revenge  upon  his  enemies.  The 
consul  Octavius  was  assassinated,  and  his  head  set  up  in  front  of 
the  Rostrum.  Never  before  had  such  a  thing  been  seen  at  Rome 
—  a  consul's  head  exposed  to  the  public  gaze.  The  senators, 
equestrians,  and  leaders  of  the  Optimate  party  fled  from  the  capi- 
tal. For  five  days  and  nights  a  merciless  slaughter  was  kept  up. 
The  life  of  every  man  in  the  capital  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
revengeful  Marius.  If  he  refused  to  return  the  greeting  of  any 
citizen,  that  sealed  his  fate  :  he  was  instantly  despatched  by  the 
soldiers  who  awaited  the  dictator's  nod.  The  bodies  of  the  vic- 
tims lay  unburied  in  the  streets.  Sulla's  house  was  torn  down, 
and  he  himself  declared  a  public  enemy.  During  the  tumult  the 
slaves  had  armed  themselves,   and,  imitating  the   example  set 


90 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE   ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


before  them,  were  rioting  in  murder  and  pillage.  Marius,  finding 
it  impossible  to  restrain  their  maddened  fury,  turned  his  soldiers 
loose  upon  them,  and  they  were  massacred  to  a  man. 

As  a  fitting  sequel  to  all  this  violence,  Marius  and  Cinna  were, 
in  an  entirely  illegal  way,  declared  consuls.  The  prophecy  of  the 
eaglets  was  fulfilled  :  Marius  was  consul  for  the  seventh  time.  But 
rumors  were  now  spread  that  Sulla,  having  overthrown  Mithra- 
dates,  was  about  to  set  out  on  his  return  with  his  victorious  legions. 
He  would  surely  exact  speedy  and  terrible  vengeance.  Marius, 
now  old  and  enfeebled  by  the  hardships  of  many  campaigns, 
seemed  to  shrink  from  facing  again  his  hated  rival.  He  plunged 
into  dissipation  to  drown  his  remorse  and  gloomy  forebodings, 
and  died  in  his  seventy-first  year  (86  f..c.),  after  having  held  his 
seventh  consulship  only  thirteen  days. 

Sulla  and  the  First  Mithradatic  War  (88-84  b.c.).  — When 
Sulla  left  Italy  with  his  legions  for  the  East  he  knew  very  well  that 
his  enemies  would  have  their  own  way  in  Italy  during  his  absence  ; 
but  he  also  knew  that,  if  successful  in  his  campaign  against  Mith- 
radates,  he  could  easily  regain  Italy,  and  wrest  the  government 
from  the  hands  of  the  Marian  party. 

We  can  here  take  space  to  give  simply  the  results  of  Sulla's 
campaigns  in  the  East.  After  driving  the  army  of  Mithradates 
out  of  Greece,  Sulla  crossed  the  Hellespont,  and  forced  the  king 
to  sue  for  peace.  He  gave  up  his  conquered  territory,  surren- 
dered his  war-ships,  and  paid  a  large  indemnity  to  cover  the 
expenses  of  the  war  (84  u.c). 

With  the  Mithradatic  War  ended,  Sulla  wrote  to  the  Senate, 
saying  that  he  was  now  coming  to  take  vengeance  upon  the 
Marian  party,  —  his  own  and  the  republic's  foes. 

The  terror  and  consternation  produced  at  Rome  by  this  letter 
were  increased  by  the  accidental  burning  of  the  Capitol.  The 
Sibylline  books,  which  held  the  secrets  of  the  fate  of  Rome,  were 
consumed.  This  accident  awakened  the  most  gloomy  appre- 
hensions. Such  an  event,  it  was  believed,  could  only  foreshadow 
the  most  direful  calamities  to  the  state. 


THE  PROSCRIPTIONS   OF  SULLA. 


91 


The  Proscriptions  of  Sulla. —The  returning  army   from  the 
East  landed  in  Italy.     With  his  veteran  legions  at  his  back,  Sulla 
marched  into  Rome  with  all  the  powers  of  a  dictator.     The  leaders 
of  the  Marian  party  were  proscribed,  rewards  were  offered  for  their 
heads,  and  their  property  was  confiscated.     Sulla  was  implored  to 
make  out  a  list  of  those  he  designed  to  put  to  death,  that  those 
he  intended  to  spare  might  be  relieved  of  the  terrible  suspense  in 
which  all  were  now  held.     He  made  out  a  list  of  eighty,  which 
was  attached  to  the  Rostrum.     The   people   murmured  at   the 
length  of  the  roll.     In  a  few  days  it  was  extended  to  over  three 
hundred,  and  grew  rapidly,  until  it  included  the  names  of  thou- 
sands of  the  best  citizens  of  Italy.     Hundreds  were  murdered,  not 
for  any  offence,  but  because  some  favorites  of  Sulla  coveted  their 
estates.     A  wealthy  noble  coming  into  the  Forum  and  reading  his 
own  name  in  the  list  of  the  proscribed,  exclaimed,   "Alas!  my 
villa  has  proved  my  ruin."     The  infamous  Catiline,  by  having  the 
name  of  a  brother  placed  upon  the  fatal  roll,  secured  his  property. 
Julius  Caisar,  at  this  time  a  mere  boy  of  eighteen,  was  proscribed 
on  account  of  his  relationship  to  Marius ;  but,  upon  the  interces- 
sion of  friends,  Sulla  spared  him  ;  as  he  did  so,  however,  he  said 
warningly,  and,  as  the  event  proved,  prophetically,  "  There  is  in 
that  boy  many  a  Marius." 

Senators,  knights,  and  wealthy  land-owners  fell  by  hundreds 
and  by  thousands ;  but  the  poor  Italians  who  had  sided  with  the 
Marian  party  were  simply  slaughtered  by  tens  of  thousands.  Nor 
did  the  provinces  escape.  In  Sicily,  Spain,  and  Africa  the  enemies 
of  the  dictator  were  hunted  and  exterminated  like  noxious  animals. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  civil  war  of  Marius  and  Sulla  cost  the 
republic  over  152*000  li^^s. 

When  Sulla  had  sated  his  revenge,  he  celebrated  a  splendid 
triumph  at  Rome ;  the  Senate  enacted  a  law  declaring  all  that 
he  had  done  legal  and  right,  caused  to  be  erected  in  the  Forum  a 
gilded  equestrian  statue  of  the  dictator,  which  bore  the  legend, 
«  To  Lucius  Cornelius  Sulla,  the  Commander  Beloved  by  Fortune," 
and  made  him  dictator  for  life.     Sulla  used  his  position  and  influ- 


I 


92 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


ence  in  recasting  the  constitution  in  the  interest  of  the  aristocratic 
party.  After  enjoying  the  unlimited  power  of  an  Asiatic  despot 
for  three  years,  he  suddenly  resigned  the  dictatorship,  and  retired 
to  his  villa  at  Puteoli,  where  he  gave  himself  up  to  the  grossest 
dissipations.  He  died  the  year  following  his  abdication  (78  B.C.). 
The  soldiers  who  had  fought  under  the  old  general  crowded 
to  his  funeral  from  all  parts  of  Italy.  The  body  was  burned  upon 
a  huge  funeral  pyre  raised  in  the  Campus  Martius.  The  monu- 
ment erected  to  his  memory  bore  this  inscription,  which  he  him- 
self had  composed  :  "  None  of  my  friends  ever  did  me  a  kindness, 
and  none  of  my  enemies  ever  did  me  a  wrong,  without  being 
fully  requited." 


POMPEY    THE    GREAT  IN  SPAIN. 


93 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE   LAST    CENTURY    OF    THE   ROMAN    REPUBLIC    {concluded). 

(133-31  B.C.) 

Pompey  the  Great  in  Spain.  —  The  fires  of  the  Civil  War, 
though  quenched  in  Italy,  were  still  smouldering  in  Spain.  Serto- 
rius,  an  adherent  of  Marius,  had  there  stirred  up  the  martial  tribes 
of  Lusitania,  and  incited  a  general  revolt  against  the  power  of 
the  aristocratic  government  at  Rome.  Gnaeus  Pompey,  a  rising 
young  leader  of  the  oligarchy,  upon  whom  the  title  of  "  Great  "  had 
already  been  conferred  as  a  reward  for  crushing  the  Marian  party 
in  Sicily  and  Africa,  was  sent  into  Spain  to  perform  a  similar  ser- 
vice there. 

For  several  years  the  war  was  carried  on  with  varying  fortunes. 
At  times  the  power  of  Rome  in  the  peninsula  seemed  on  the  verge 
of  utter  extinction.  Finally  the  brave  Sertorius  was  assassinated 
(72  B.C.),  and  then  the  whole  of  Spain  was  quickly  regained. 
Pompey  boasted  of  having  forced  the  gates  of  more  than  eight 

hundred  cities  in  Spain  and  Southern  Gaul.     Throughout  all  the 

« 

conquered  regions  he  established  military  colonies,  and  reorganized 
the  local  governments,  putting  in  power  those  who  would  be  not 
only  friends  and  allies  of  the  Roman  state,  but  also  his  own  per- 
sonal adherents.  How  he  used  these  men  as  instruments  of  his 
ambition,  we  shall  learn  a  little  later. 

Spartacus :  War  of  the  Gladiators  (73-71  b.c).  — While  Pom- 
pey was  subduing  the  Marian  faction  in  Spain,  a  new  danger  broke 
out  in  the  midst  of  Italy.  Gladiatorial  combats  had  become  at  this 
time  the  favorite  sport  of  the  amphitheatre.  At  Capua  was  a  sort 
of  training-school,  from  which  skilled  fighters  were  hired  out  for 
public  or  private  entertainments.  In  this  seminary  was  a  Thracian 
slave,  known  by  the  name  of  Spartacus,  who  incited  his  compan- 


92 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


POMPEY  THE   GREAT  LN  SPALN. 


93 


I 


ence  in  recasting  the  constitution  in  the  interest  of  the  aristocratic 
party.  After  enjoying  the  unlimited  power  of  an  Asiatic  despot 
for  three  years,  he  suddenly  resigned  the  dictatorship,  and  retired 
to  his  villa  at  Puteoli,  where  he  gave  himself  up  to  the  grossest 
dissipations.  He  died  the  year  following  his  abdication  (78  b.c). 
The  soldiers  who  had  fought  under  the  old  general  crowded 
to  his  funeral  from  all  parts  of  Italy.  The  body  was  burned  upon 
a  huge  funeral  pyre  raised  in  the  Campus  Martius.  The  monu- 
ment erected  to  his  memory  bore  this  inscription,  which  he  him- 
self  had  composed  :  '*  None  of  my  friends  ever  did  me  a  kindness, 
and  none  of  my  enemies  ever  did  me  a  wrong,  without  being 
fiilly  requited." 


CHAPTER   Vn. 

THE   LAST    CENTURY    OF    THE   ROMAN    REPUBLIC    {concluded). 

(133-31  B.C.) 

Pompey  the  Great  in  Spain.  —  The  fires  of  the  Civil  War, 
though  quenched  in  Italy,  were  still  smouldering  in  Spain.  Serto- 
rius,  an  adherent  of  Marius,  had  there  stirred  up  the  martial  tribes 
of  Lusitania,  and  incited  a  general  revolt  against  the  power  of 
the  aristocratic  government  at  Rome.  Gnseus  Pompey,  a  rising 
young  leader  of  the  oligarchy,  upon  whom  the  tide  of  "  Great "  had 
already  been  conferred  as  a  reward  for  cnishing  the  Marian  party 
in  Sicily  and  Africa,  was  sent  into  Spain  to  perform  a  similar  ser- 
vice there. 

For  several  years  the  war  was  carried  on  with  varying  fortunes. 
At  times  the  power  of  Rome  in  the  peninsula  seemed  on  the  verge 
of  utter  extinction.  Finally  the  brave  Sertorius  was  assassinated 
(72  B.C.),  and  then  the  whole  of  Spain  was  quickly  regained. 
Pompey  boasted  of  having  forced  the  gates  of  more  than  eight 
hundred  cities  in  Spain  and  Southern  Gaul.  Throughout  all  the 
conquered  regions  he  established  military  colonies,  and  reorganized 
the  local  governments,  putting  in  power  those  who  would  be  not 
only  friends  and  allies  of  the  Roman  state,  but  also  his  own  per- 
sonal adherents.  How  he  used  these  men  as  instruments  of  his 
ambition,  we  shall  learn  a  little  later. 

Spartacus:  War  of  the  Gladiators  (73-71  b.c.).— While  Pom- 
pey was  subduing  the  Marian  faction  in  Spain,  a  new  danger  broke 
out  in  the  midst  of  Italy.  Gladiatorial  combats  had  become  at  this 
time  the  favorite  sport  of  the  amphitheatre.  At  Capua  was  a  sort 
of  training-school,  from  which  skilled  fighters  were  hired  out  for 
public  or  private  entertainments.  In  this  seminary  was  a  Thracian 
slave,  known  by  the  name  of  Spartacus,  who  incited  his  compan- 


94 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROaIAN  REPUBLIC, 


* 


ions  to  revolt.  The  insurgents  fled  to  the  crater  of  Vesuvius,  and 
made  that  their  stronghold.  There  they  were  joined  by  gladiators 
from  other  schools,  and  by  slaves  and  discontented  men  from 
every  quarter.  Some  slight  successes  enabled  them  to  arm  them- 
selves with  the  weapons  of  their  enemies.  Their  number  at  length 
increased  to  150,000  men.  For  three  years  they  defied  the 
power  of  Rome,  and  even  gained  control  of  the  larger  part  of 
Southern  Italy.  Four  Roman  armies  sent  against  them  were  cut 
to  pieces. 

But  Spartacus,  who  was  a  man  of  real  ability  and  discernment, 
foresaw  that  a  protracted  contest  with  Rome  must  inevitably  issue 
in  the  triumph  of  the  government.  He  therefore  counselled  his 
followers  to  fight  their  way  over  the  Alps,  and  then  to  disperse  to 
their  various  homes  in  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Thrace.  But  elated  with 
the  successes  already  achieved,  they  imagined  that  they  could 
capture  Rome,  and  have  all  Italy  for  a  spoil.  Their  camp  was 
already  filled  with  plunder,  which  the  insurgents  sold  to  specula- 
tors. They  took  in  exchange  for  these  spoils  only  brass  and  iron, 
which  their  forges  quickly  converted  into  weapons. 

At  length  M.  Crassus  succeeded  in  crowding  the  insurgents 
down  into  Rhegium,  where  Hannibal  had  stood  so  long  at  bay. 
Spartacus  now  resolved  to  pass  over  into  Sicily,  and  stir  up  the 
embers  of  the  old  Servile  War  upon  that  island.  He  bargained 
with  the  pirates  that  infested  the  neighboring  seas  to  convey  his 
forces  across  the  straits ;  but  as  soon  as  they  had  received  the 
stipulated  price  they  treacherously  sailed  away,  and  left  Spartacus 
and  his  followers  to  their  fate.  Crassus  threw  up  a  wall  across 
the  isthmus,  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  insurgents ;  but  Spar- 
tacus broke  through  the  Roman  line  by  night,  and  hastened 
northward  with  his  army.  Following  in  hot  pursuit,  Crassus  over- 
took the  fugitives  at  the  Silarus,  and  there  subjected  them  to  a 
decisive  defeat.  Spartacus  himself  was  slain ;  but  5000  of  the 
insurgents  escaped,  and  fled  towards  the  Alps.  This  flying  band 
was  met  and  annihilated  by  Pompey,  who  was  returning  from 
Spain. 


THE  ABUSES   OF   VERRES. 


95 


The  slaves  that  had  taken  part  in  the  revolt  were  hunted  through 
the  mountains  and  forests,  and  exterminated  like  dahgerous  beasts. 
The  Appian  Way  was  lined  with  six  thousand  crosses,  bearing  aloft 
as  many  bodies,  —  a  terrible  warning  of  the  fate  awaiting  slaves 
that  should  dare  to  strike  for  freedom. 

The  Abuses  of  Verres.  —  Terrible  as  was  the  state  of  society  in 
Italy,  still  worse  was  the  condition  of  affairs  outside  the  peninsula. 
At  first  the  nile  of  the  Roman  governors  in  the  provinces,  though 
severe,  was  honest  and  pmdent.     But  during  the  period  of  profli- 
'  gacy  and  corruption  upon  which  we  have  now  entered,  the  admin- 
istration of  these  foreign  possessions  was  shamefully  dishonest  and 
incredibly  cruel  and  rapacious.     The  prosecution  of  Verres,  the 
propraetor  of  Sicily,  exposed  the  scandalous  rule  of  the  oligarchy, 
into  whose  hands  the  government  had  fallen.     For  three  years 
Verres  plundered  and  ravaged  that  island  with  impunity.     He  sold 
all  the  offices  and  all  his  decisions  as  judge.     He  demanded  of 
the  farmers  the  greater  part  of  their  crops,  which  he  sold,  to  swell 
his  already  enormous  fortune.     Agriculture  was  thus  ruined,  and 
the  farms  were  abandoned.     Verres  had  a  taste  for  art,  and  when 
on  his  tours  through  the  island  confiscated  gems,  vases,  statues, 
paintings,  and  other  things  that  struck  his  fancy,  whether  in  tem- 
ples or  private  dwellings. 

Verres  could  not  be  called  to  account  while  in  office ;  and  it 
was  doubtful  whether,  after  the  end  of  his  term,  he  could  be  con- 
victed, so  corrupt  and  venal  had  become  the  members  of  the 
Senate,  before  whom  all  such  offenders  must  be  tried.  Indeed, 
Verres  himself  openly  boasted  that  he  intended  two  thirds  of  his 
gains  for  his  judges  and  lawyers,  while  the  remaining  one  third 
would  satisfy  himself. 

At  length,  after  Sicily  had  come  to  look  as  though  it  had  been 
ravaged  by  barbarian  conquerors,  the  infamous  robber  was  im- 
peached. The  prosecutor  was  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero,  the  brilliant 
orator,  who  was  at  this  time  just  rising  into  prominence  at  Rome. 
The  storm  of  indignation  raised  by  the  developments  of  the  trial 


V 


% 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


I 


it 

i 


a. 


caused  Verres  to  flee  into  exile  to  Massilia,  whither  he  took  with 
him  much  of  his  ill-gotten  wealth. 

War  with  the  Mediterranean  Pirates  (66  b.c).  —  The  Roman 
republic  was  now  threatened  by  a  new  danger  from  the  sea.  The 
Mediterranean  was  swarming  with  pirates.  Roman  conquests  in 
Africa,  Spain,  and  especially  in  Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  had  caused 
thousands  of  adventurous  spirits  from  those  maritime  countries  to 
flee  to  their  ships,  and  seek  a  liveUhood  by  preying  upon  the  com- 
merce of  the  seas.  The  cruelty  and  extortions  of  the  Roman 
governors  had  also  driven  large  numbers  to  the  same  course  of 
life.  These  corsairs  had  banded  themselves  into  a  sort  of  govern- 
ment, and  held  possession  of  numerous  strongholds  —  four  hun- 
dred, it  is  said  —  in  Cilicia,  Crete,  and  other  countries.  With  a 
thousand  swift  ships  they  scoured  the  waters  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, so  that  no  merchantman  could  spread  her  sails  in  safety. 
They  formed  a  floating  empire,  which  Michelet  calls  a  "  a  wander- 
ing Carthage,  which  no  one  knew  where  to  seize,  and  which 
floated  from  Spain  to  Asia." 

These  buccaneers,  the  Vikings  of  the  South,  made  descents 
upon  the  coast  everywhere,  plundered  villas  and  temples,  at- 
tacked and  captured  cities,  and  sold  the  inhabitants  as  slaves  in 
the  various  slave  markets  of  the  Roman  world.  They  carried  off 
merchants  and  magistrates  from  the  Appian  Way  itself,  and  held 
them  for  ransom.  At  last  the  grain  ships  of  Sicily  and  Africa 
were  intercepted,  and  Rome  was  threatened  with  the  alternative 
of  starvation  or  the  paying  of  an  enormous  ransom. 

The  Romans  now  bestirred  themselves.  Pompey  was  invested 
with  dictatorial  power  for  three  years  over  the  Mediterranean  and 
all  its  coasts  for  fifty  miles  inland.  An  armament  of  500  ships  and 
100,000  men  was  intrusted  to  his  command.  The  great  general 
acted  with  his  characteristic  energy.  Within  forty  days  he  had 
swept  the  pirates  from  the  Western  Mediterranean,  and  in  forty- 
nine  more  hunted  them  from  all  the  waters  east  of  Italy,  captured 
their  strongholds  in  Cilicia,  and  settled  the  20,000  prisoners  that 
fell  into  his  hands  in  various  colonies  in  Asia  Minor  and  Greece. 


I 


THE    THIRD  MITHRADATIC   WAR. 


97 


I 


Pompey*s  vigorous  and  successful  conduct  of  this  campaign  against 
the  pirates  gained  him  great  honor  and  reputation.     >^ 

Pompey  and  the  Third ^  Mithradatic  War  (74-64  b.c.).  — In 
the  very  year  that  Pompey  suppressed  the  pirates,  he  was  called 
upon  to  undertake  a  more  difficult  task.  Mithradates  the  Great, 
led  on  by  his  ambition,  and  encouraged  by  the  discontent  created 
throughout  the  Eastern  provinces  by  Roman  rapacity  and  misrule, 
was  again  in  arms  against  Rome.  He  had  stirred  almost  all  Asia 
Minor  to  revolt.  The  management  of  the  war  was  at  first  in- 
trusted to  the  consul  Lucius  Licinius  Lucullus,  but  he  soon  lost 
the  confidence  both  of  the  people  at  home  and  of  the  soldiers  in 
the  army;  so  the  command  was  taken  from  him  and  conferred 
upon  Pompey,  whose  success  in  the  war  of  the  pirates  had  aroused 
unbounded  enthusiasm  for  him. 

In  a  great  batde  in  Lesser  Armenia,  Pompey  almost  annihilated 
the  army  of  Mithradates.  The  king  fled  from  the  field  and,  after 
seeking  in  vain  for  a  refuge  in  Asia  Minor,  sought  an  asylum 
beyond  the  Caucasus  Mountains,  whose  bleak  barriers  interposed 
their  friendly  shield  between  him  and 
his  pursuers.  Desisting  from  the  pursuit, 
Pompey  turned  south  and  conquered  Sy- 
ria, Phoenicia,  and  Coele-Syria,  which  coun- 
tries he  erected  into  a  Roman  province. 

Still  pushing  southward,  the  conqueror 
entered  Palestine,  and  after  a  short  siege 
captured  Jerusalem  (63  B.C.).  It  was  at 
this  time  that  Pompey  insisted,  in  spite  of 
the  protestations  of  the  high  priest,  upon 
entering  the  Holy  of  Holies  of  the  Hebrew  temple.  Pushing  aside 
the  curtain  to  the  jealously  guarded  apartment,  he  was  astonished 
to  find  nothing  but  a  dark  and  vacant  chamber,  without  even  a  statue 
of  the  god  to  whom  the  shrine  was  dedicated  —  nothing  but  a  little 
chest  (the  Ark  of  the  Covenant)  containing  some  sacred  relics. 

1  The  so-called  Second  Mithradatic  War  (83-82  B.C.)  was  a  short  conflict  be- 
tween the  Romans  and  Mithradates  that  arose  just  after  the  close  of  the  First 


MITHRADATES    VI. 
(The  Great.) 


•I 


I 


98 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


While  Pompey  was  thus  engaged,  Mithradates  was  straining 
every  energy  to  raise  an  army  among  the  Scythian  tribes  with 
which  to  carry  out  a  most  daring  project.  He  proposed  to  cross 
Europe  and  fall  upon  Italy  from  the  north.  A  revolt  on  the  part 
of  his  son  Phamaces  ruined  all  his  plans  and  hopes;  and  the 
disappointed  monarch,  to  avoid  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
Romans,  took  his  own  life  (63  b.c).  His  death  removed  one  of 
the  most  formidable  enemies  that  Rome  had  ever  encountered. 
Hamilcar,  Hannibal,  and  Mithradates  were  the  three  great  names 
that  the  Romans  always  pronounced  with  respect  and  dread. 

Pompey's  Triumph.  —  After  regulating  the  affairs  of  the  different 
states  and  provinces  in  the  East,  Pompey  set  out  on  his  return  to 
Rome,  where  he  enjoyed  such  a  triumph  as  never  before  had  been 
seen  since  Rome  had  become  a  city.  The  spoils  of  all  the  East 
were  borne  in  the  procession;  322  princes  walked  as  captives 
before  the  triumphal  chariot  of  the  conqueror ;  legends  upon  the 
banners  proclaimed  that  he  had  conquered  21  kings,  captured 
1000  strongholds,  900  towns,  and  800  ships,  and  subjugated  more 
than  1 2,000,000  people ;  and  that  he  had  put  into  the  treasury 
more  than  1*25,000,000,  besides  doubHng  the  regular  revenues  of 
the  state.  He  boasted  that  three  times  he  had  triumphed,  and 
each  time  for  the  conquest  of  a  continent  —  first  for  Africa,  then 
for  Europe,  and  now  for  Asia,  which  completed  the  conquest  of 
the  world. 

The  Conspiracy  of  Catiline  (64-62  b.c.).  — While  the  legions 
were  absent  from  Italy  with  Pompey  in  the  East,  a  most  daring 
conspiracy  against  the  government  was  formed  at  Rome.  Catiline, 
a  ruined  spendthrift,  had  gathered  a  large  company  of  profligate 
young  nobles,  weighed  down  with  debts  and  desperate  like  himself, 
and  had  deliberately  planned  to  murder  the  consuls  and  the  chief 
men  of  the  state,  and  to  plunder  and  burn  the  capital.  The  offices 
of  the  new  government  were  to  be  divided  among  the  conspira- 
tors. They  depended  upon  receiving  aid  from  Africa  and  Spain, 
and  proposed  to  invite  to  their  standard  the  gladiators  in  the 
various  schools   of  Italy,  as  well  as  slaves  and  criminals.     The 


CMSAR,    CRASS  US,   AND   POMPEY. 


99 


proscriptions  of  Sulla  were  to  be  renewed,  and  all  debts  were  to 
be  cancelled. 

Fortunately,  all  the  plans  of  the  conspirators  were  revealed  to 
the  consul  Cicero,  the  great  orator.  The  Senate  immediately 
clothed  the  consuls  with  dictatorial  power  with  the  usual  formula 
that  they  "  should  take  care  that  the  republic  received  no  harm.'' 
The  gladiators  were  secured  ;  the  city  walls  were  manned  ;  and  at 
every  point  the  capital  and  state  were  armed  against  the  "invisible 
foe."  Then  in  the  Senate-chamber,  with  Catiline  himself  present, 
Cicero  exposed  the  whole  conspiracy  in  a  famous  philippic,  known 
as  "The  First  Oration  against  Catiline."  The  senators  shrank 
from  the  conspirator,  and  left  the  seats  about  him  empty.  After 
a  feeble  effort  to  reply  to  Cicero,  overwhelmed  by  a  sense  of  his 
guilt,  and  the  cries  of  "  traitor  "  and  "  parricide  "  from  the  senators, 
Catiline  fled  from  the  chamber,  and  hurried  out  of  the  city  to  the 
camp  of  his  followers  in  Etruria.  In  a  desperate  battle  fought 
near  Pistoria  (62  b.c),  he  was  slain  with  many  of  his  followers. 
His  head  was  borne  as  a  trophy  to  Rome.  Cicero  was  hailed  as 
the  "  Savior  of  his  Country." 

Caesar,  Crassus,  and  Pompey.  —  Although  the  conspiracy  of 
Catiline  had  failed,  it  was  very  easy  to  foresee  that  the  downfall 
of  the  Roman  repubhc  was  near  at  hand.  Indeed,  from  this  time 
on,  only  the  name  remains.  The  basis  of  the  institutions  of  the 
republic— the  old  Roman  virtue,  integrity,  patriotism,  and  faith 
in  the  gods  —  was  gone,  having  been  swept  away  by  the  tide  of 
luxury,  selfishness,  and  immorality  produced  by  the  long  series 
of  foreign  conquests  and  robberies  in  which  the  Roman  people 
had  been  engaged.  The  days  of  Hberty  at  Rome  were  over. 
From  this  time  forward  the  government  was  really  in  the  hands 
of  ambitious  and  popular  leaders,  or  of  corrupt  combinations  and 
"  rings."  Events  gather  about  a  few  great  names,  and  the  annals 
of  the  republic  become  biographical  rather  than  historical. 

There  were  now  in  the  state  three  men  —  Caesar,  Crassus,  and 
Pompey  —  who  were  destined  to  shape  affairs.  ,  Gaius  JuHus  Caesar 
was  born  in  the  year  100  b.c.     Although  descended  from  an  old 


■■■)  1 


100 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


patrician  family,  still  his  sympathies,  and  an  early  marriage  to  the 
daughter  of  Cinna,  one  of  the  adherents  of  Marius,  led  him  early 
to  identify  himself  with  the  Marian,  or  democratic  party.  In 
every  way  Caesar  courted  public  favor.  He  lavished  enormous 
sums  upon  public  games  and  tables.  His  debts  are  said  to  have 
amounted  to  25,000,000  sesterces  ($  1,250,000).  His  popularity  was 
unbounded.  A  successful  campaign  in  Spain  had  already  made 
known  to  himself,  as  well  as  to  others,  his  genius  as  a  commander. 

Marcus  Licinius  Crassus  belonged  to  the  senatorial,  or  aristo- 
cratic party.  He  owed  his  influence  to  his  enormous  wealth,  being 
one  of  the  richest  men  in  the  Roman  world.  His  property  was 
estimated  at  7100  talents  (about  $8,875,000).^ 

With  Gnseus  Pompey  and  his  achievements  we  are  already 
familiar.  His  influence  throughout  the  Roman  world  was  great  \ 
for,  in  settling  and  reorganizing  the  many  countries  he  subdued,  he 
had  always  taken  care  to  reconstruct  them  in  his  own  interest,  as 
well  as  in  that  of  the  republic.  The  offices,  as  we  have  seen,  were 
filled  with  his  friends  and  adherents  (see  p.  93).  This  patronage 
had  secured  for  him  incalculable  authority  in  the  provinces.  His 
veteran  legionaries,  too,  were  naturally  devoted  to  the  general  who 
had  led  them  so  often  to  victory. 

^  "  The  greatest  part  of  this  fortune,  if  we  may  declare  the  truth,  to  his 
extreme  disgrace,  was  gleaned  from  war  and  from  fires;  for  he  made  a  traffic 
of  the  public  calamities.  When  Sulla  had  taken  Rome,  and  sold  the  estates  of 
those  whom  he  had  put  to  death,  which  he  both  reputed  and  called  the  spoils 
of  his  enemies,  he  was  desirous  of  involving  all  persons  of  consequence  in  his 
crime,  and  he  found  in  Crassus  a  man  who  refused  no  kind  of  gift  or  purchase. 
Crassus  observed  also  how  liable  the  city  was  to  fires,  and  how  frequently  houses 
fell  down;  which  misfortunes  were  owing  to  the  weight  of  the  buildings,  and 
their  standing  so  close  together.  In  consequence  of  this,  he  provided  himself 
with  slaves  who  were  carpenters  and  masons,  and  went  on  collecting  them  till 
he  had  upwards  of  five  hundred.  Then  he  made  it  his  business  to  buy  houses 
that  were  on  fire,  and  others  that  joined  upon  them;  and  he  commonly  had 
them  at  a  low  price  by  reason  of  the  fire,  and  the  distress  the  owners  were  in 
about  the  event.  [Then  the  slaves  would  set  to  work  and  extinguish  the  fire, 
and  Crassus  at  a  smr.ll*  cost  would  repair  the  damage.]  Hence  in  time  he 
became  master  of  a  great  part  of  Rome."  —  Plutarch. 


THE  FIRST   TRIUMVIRATE. 


101 


The  First  Triumvirate  (60  b.c).  —  What  is  known  as  the 
First  Triumvirate  rested  on  the  genius  of  Caesar,  the  wealth  of 
Crassus,  and  the  achievements  of  Pompey.  It  was  a  coalition  or 
private  arrangement  entered  into  by  these  three  men  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  to  themselves  the  control  of  public  affairs. 
Each  pledged  himself  to  work  for  the  interests  of  the  others. 
Caesar  was  the  manager  of  the  "  ring."  He  skilfully  drew  away 
Pompey  from  the  aristocratical  party,  and  effected  a  reconciliation 
between  him  and  Crassus,  for  they  had  been  at  enmity.  It  was 
agreed  that  Crassus  and  Pompey  should  aid  Caesar  in  securing  the 
consulship.  In  return  for  this  favor,  Caesar  was  to  secure  for 
Pompey  a  confirmation  of  his  acts  in  the  East,  and  allotments  of 
land  for  his  veterans,  concessions  which  thus  far  had  been  jealously 
withheld  by  the  senatorial  party. 

Everything  fell  out  as  the  triumvirs  had  planned :  Caesar  got 
the  consulship,  and  Pompey  received  the  lands  for  his  soldiers. 
The  two  ablest  senatorial  leaders,  Cato  and  Cicero,  whose  incor- 
ruptible integrity  threatened  the  plans  of  the  triumvirs,  were  got 
out  of  the  way.  Cato  was  given  an  appointment  which  sent  him 
into  honorable  exile  to  the  island  of  Cyprus ;  while  Cicero,  on 
the  charge  of  having  denied  Roman  citizens  the  right  of  trial  in 
the  matter  of  the  Catiline  conspirators,  was  banished  from  the 
capital,  his  mansion  on  the  Palatine  was  razed  to  the  ground,  and 
the  remainder  of  his  property  confiscated. 

Caesar's  Conquests  in  Gaul  and  Britain  (58-51  b.c).  —  At  the 
end  of  his  consulship,  Caesar  had  assigned  him  the  administra- 
tion of  the  provinces  of  Cisalpine  and  Transalpine  Gaul.  Already 
he  was  revolving  in  his  mind  plans  for  seizing  supreme  power. 
Beyond  the  Alps  the  Gallic  and  Germanic  tribes  were  in  restless 
movement.  He  saw  there  a  grand  field  for  military  exploits, 
which  should  gain  for  him  such  glory  and  prestige  as,  in  other 
fields,  had  been  won,  and  were  now  enjoyed,  by  Pompey.  With 
this  achieved,  and  with  a  veteran  army  devoted  to  his  interests,  he 
might  hope  easily  to  attain  that  position  at  the  head  of  affairs 
towards  which  his  ambition  was  urging  him. 


I 


102 


Z^^r  CENTUIi  Y  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


In  the  spring  of  58  n.c.  alarming  intelligence  from  beyond  the 
Alps  caused  Caesar  to  hasten  from  Rome  into  Transalpine  Gaul. 
Now  began  a  series  of  eight  brilliant  campaigns  directed  against 
the  various  tribes  of  Gaul,  Germany,  and  Britain.  In  his  admi- 
rable "  Commentaries  "  Cjesar  himself  has  left  us  a  faithful  and 
graphic  account  of  all  the  memorable  marches,  battles,  and  sieges 
that  filled  the  years  between  58  and  51  k.c. 

CcTsar's  first  campaign  after  arriving  in  Gaul  was  directed  against 
the  Helvetians.  These  people,  finding  themselves  too  much 
crowded  in  their  narrow  territory,  hemmed  in  as  they  were  be- 
tween the  Alps  and  the  Jura  ranges,  had  resolved  to  seek  broader 
fields  in  the  Roman  provinces  across  the  Rhone.  Disregarding 
the  commands  of  Caesar,  the  entire  nation,  numbering  with  their 
allies  368,000  souls,  left  their  old  homes,  and  began  their  west- 
ward march.  In  a  great  battle  Caesar  completely  defeated  the 
barbarians,  and  forced  them  back  into  their  old  home  between  the 
mountains,  now  quite  large  enough  for  the  survivors,  as  barely  a 
third  of  those  that  set  out  returned. 

Caesar  next  defeated  the  Suevi,  a  German  tribe  that,  under  the 
great  chieftain  Ariovistus,  had  crossed  the  Rhine,  and  were  seek- 
ing settlements  in  Gaul.  These  people  he  forced  back  over  the 
Rhine  into  their  native  forests.  The  two  years  following  this  cam- 
paign were  consumed  in  subjugating  the  different  tribes  in  North- 
ern and  Western  Gaul,  and  in  composing  the  affairs  of  the  country. 
In  the  war  with  the  Veneti  was  fought  the  first  historic  naval  battle 
upon  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic. 

The  year  55  b.c.  marked  two  great  achievements.  Eariy  in  the 
spring  of  this  year  Caesar  constructed  a  bridge  across  the  Rhine, 
and  led  his  legions  against  the  Germans  in  their  native  woods  and 
swamps.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  he  crossed,  by  means 
of  hastily  constructed  ships,  the  channel  that  separates  the  main- 
land from  Britain,  and  after  maintaining  a  foothold  upon  that 
island  for  two  weeks  withdrew  his  legions  into  Gaul  for  the  winter. 
The  following  season  he  made  another  invasion  of  Britain ;  but, 
after  some  encounters  with  the  fierce  barbarians,  recrossed  to  the 


RESULTS   OF  THE   GALLIC  WARS. 


103 


mainland,  without  having  established  any  permanent  garrisons  in 
the  island.  Almost  one  hundred  years  passed  away  before  the 
natives  of  Britain  were  again  molested  by  the  Romans  (see  p.  128). 

In  the  year  52  B.C.,  while  Caesar  was  absent  in  Italy,  a  general 
revolt  occurred  among  the  Gallic  tribes.  It  was  a  last  desperate 
struggle  for  the  recovery  of  their  lost  independence.  Vercingeto- 
rix,  chief  of  the  Arverni,  was  the  leader  of  the  insurrection.  For 
a  time  it  seemed  as  though  the  Romans  would  be  driven  from  the 
country.  But  Caesar's  despatch  and  genius  saved  the  province  to 
the  republic.  Vercingetorix  and  80,000  of  his  warriors  were  shut 
up  in  Alesia,  and  were  finally  starved  into  submission.  All  Gaul 
was  now  quickly  reconquered  and  pacified. 

In  his  campaigns  in  Gaul,  Caesar  had  subjugated  300  tribes, 
captured  800  cities,  and  slain  1,000,000  barbarians — one  third  of 
the  entire  population  of  the  country.  Another  third  he  had  taken 
prisoners.  Great  enthusiasm  was  aroused  at  Rome  by  these  victo- 
ries. "  Let  the  Alps  sink,"  exclaimed  Cicero  :  "  the  gods  raised 
them  to  shelter  Italy  from  the  barbarians ;  they  are  now  no  longer 
needed." 

Results  of  the  Gallic  Wars.  —  One  result  of  the  Gallic  wars  of 
Caesar  was  the  Romanizing  of  Gaul.  The  country  was  opened  to 
Roman  traders  and  settlers,  who  carried  with  them  the  language, 
customs,  and  arts  of  Italy.  Honors  were  conferred  upon  many 
of  the  Gallic  chieftains,  privileges  were  bestowed  upon  cities,  and 
the  franchise  even  granted  to  prominent  and  influential  natives. 
As  another  result  of  the  conquest  of  the  country,  Mommsen  gives 
prominence  to  the  checking  of  migratory  movements  of  the  Ger- 
man tribes,  which  gave  '*  the  necessary  interval  for  Itahan  civiHza- 
tion  to  become  established  in  Gaul,  on  the  Danube,  in  Africa,  and 
in  Spain." 

Crassus  in  the  East.  —  In  the  year  56  b.c,  while  Caesar  was  in 
the  midst  of  his  Gallic  wars,  he  found  time  to  meet  Pompey,  Cras- 
sus, and  two  hundred  senators  and  magistrates  who  co-operated 
with  the  triumvirs,  at  Lucca,  in  Etruria,  where,  in  a  sort  of  conven- 
tion, arrangements  were  made  for  another  term  of  five  years.     (A 


104         LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 

nomination  by  this  league  or  "ring"  of  politicians  and  generals  was 
equivalent  to  an  election.)  It  was  agreed  that  Caesar's  command  in 
Gaul  should  be  extended  five  years,  and  that  Crassus  and  Pompey 
should  be  made  consuls.  All  these  measures  were  carried  into 
effect,  the  elections  at  Rome  being  secured  by  intimidation,  and 
by  the  votes  of  soldiers  of  the  Gallic  legions,  to  whom  Caesar  had 
granted  furloughs  for  this  purpose.  The  government  of  the  two 
Spains  was  given  to  Pompey,  while  that  of  Syria  was  assigned  to 
Crassus. 

The  latter  hurried  tp  the  East,  hoping  to  rival  there  the  brilliant 
conquests  of  Caesar  in  the  West.  At  this  time  the  great  Parthian 
empire  occupied  the  immense  reach  of  territory  stretching  from 
the  valley  of  the  Euphrates  to  that  of  the  Indus.  Notwithstanding 
that  the  Parthians  were  at  peace  with  the  Roman  people,  Crassus 
led  his  army  across  the  Euphrates,  and  invaded  their  territory, 
intent  upon  a  war  of  conquest  and  booty.  In  the  midst  of  the 
Mesopotamian  desert  he  was  treacherously  deserted  by  his  guides ; 
and  his  army,  suddenly  attacked  by  the  Parthian  cavalry,  was 
almost  annihilated.  Crassus  himself  was  slain,  and  his  head,  so 
it  is  said,  was  filled  by  his  captors  with  molten  gold,  that  he  might 
be  sated  with  the  metal  which  he  had  so  coveted  during  life. 

In  the  death  of  Crassus,  Caesar  lost  his  stanchest  friend,  one 
who  had  never  failed  him,  and  whose  wealth  had  been  freely  used 
for  his  advancement.  When  Caesar,  before  his  consulship,  had 
received  a  command  in  Spain,  and  the  immense  sums  he  owed  at 
Rome  were  embarrassing  him  and  preventing  his  departure,  Cras- 
sus had  come  forward  and  generously  paid  more  than  a  million 
dollars  of  his  friend's  debts. 

Eivalry  between  Caesar  and  Pompey. — After  the  death  of 
Crassus  the  world  belonged  to  Caesar  and  Pompey.  That  the  in- 
satiable ambition  of  these  two  rivals  should  sooner  or  later  bring 
them  into  collision  was  inevitable.  Their  alliance  in  the  triumvi- 
rate was  simply  one  of  selfish  convenience,  not  of  friendship. 
While  Caesar  was  carrying  on  his  brilliant  campaigns  in  Gaul,  Pom- 
pey was  at  Rome  watching  jealously  the  growing  reputation  of  his 


RIVALRY  BETWEEN  CMSAR  AND  POMPEY, 


105 


great  rival.  He  strove,  by  a  princely  liberaHty,  to  win  the  affec- 
tions of  the  common  people.  On  the  Field  of  Mars  he  erected  an 
immense  theatre  with  seats  for  40,000  spectators.  He  gave  mag- 
nificent games  and  set  public  tables ;  and  when  the  interest  of  the 
people  in  the  sports  of  the  Circus  flagged,  he  entertained  them 
with  gladiatorial  combats.  In  a  similar  manner  Csesar  strength- 
ened himself  with  the  people  for  the  struggle  which  he  plainly  fore- 
saw. He  sought  in  every  way  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  Gauls  : 
he  increased  the  pay  of  his  soldiers,  conferred  the  privileges  of 
Roman  citizenship  upon  the  inhabitants  of  different  cities,  and 
sent  to  Rome  enormous  sums  of  gold  to  be  expended  in  the  erec- 
tion of  temples,  theatres,  and  other  public  structures,  and  in  the 
celebration  of  games  and  shows  that  should  rival  in  magnificence 
those  given  by  Pompey. 

The  terrible  condition  of  affairs  at  the  capital  favored  the  ambi- 
tion of  Pompey.  So  selfish  and  corrupt  were  the  members  of  the 
Senate,  so  dead  to  all  virtue  and  to  every  sentiment  of  patriotism 
were  the  people,  that  even  such  patriots  as  Cato  and  Cicero  saw 
no  hope  for  the  maintenance  of  the  republic.  The  former  favored 
the  appointment  of  Pompey  as  sole  consul  for  one  year,  which  was 
about  the  same  thing  as  making  him  dictator.  "  It  is  better,"  said 
Cato,  "  to  choose  a  master  than  to  wait  for  the  tyrant  whom  anar- 
chy will  impose  upon  us."  The  "  tyrant  "  in  his  and  everybody's 
mind  was  Caesar. 

Pompey  now  broke  with  Caesar,  and  attached  himself  again  to 
the  old  aristocratical  party,  which  he  had  deserted  for  the  alliance 
and  promises  of  the  triumvirate.  The  death  at  this  time  of  his 
wife  Julia,  the  daughter  of  Caesar,  severed  the  bonds  of  relation- 
ship at  the  same  moment  that  those  of  ostensible  friendship  were 
broken. 

CaBsar  crosses  the  Rubicon  (49  b.c.).  — Csesar  now  demanded 
the  consulship.  He  knew  that  his  life  would  not  be  safe  in  Rome 
from  the  jealousy  and  hatred  of  his  enemies  without  the  security 
from  impeachment  and  trial  which  that  office  would  give.  The 
Senate,  under  the  manipulation  of  these  same  enemies,  issued  a 


106         LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 

decree  that  he  should  resign  his  office,  and  disband  his  Gallic 
legions  by  a  stated  day.  The  crisis  had  now  come.  Caesar 
ordered  his  legions  to  hasten  from  Gaul  into  Italy.  Without  wait- 
ing for  their  arrival,  at  the  head  of  a  small  body  of  veterans  that 
he  had  with  him  at  Ravenna,  he  crossed  the  Rubicon,  a  little 
stream  that  marked  the  boundary  of  his  province.  This  was  a 
declaration  of  war.     As  he  plunged  into  the  river,  he  exclaimed, 

"  The  die  is  cast ! " 

The  Civil  War  between  Caesar  and  Pompey  (49-48  b.c.).— 
The  bold  movement  of  Caesar  produced  great  consternation  at 
Rome.  Realizing  the  danger  of  delay,  Caesar,  without  waiting  for 
the  Gallic  legions  to  join  him,  marched  southward.  One  city  after 
another  threw  open  its  gates  to  him  ;  legion  after  legion  went  over 
to  his  standard.  Pompey  and  a  great  part  of  the  senators 
hastened  from  Rome  to  Brundisium,  and  thence  with  about 
25,000  men  fled  across  the  Adriatic  into  Greece.  Within  sixty 
days  Caesar  made  himself  undisputed  master  of  all  Italy. 

Pompey  and  Caesar  now  controlled  the  Roman  worid.  It  was 
large,  but  not  large  enough  for  both  these  ambitious  men-  As  to 
which  was  likely  to  become  sole  master  it  were  difficult  for  one 
watching  events  at  that  time  to  foresee.  Caesar  held  Italy,  Illyri- 
cum,  and  Gaul,  with  the  resources  of  his  own  genius  and  the 
idolatrous  attachment  of  his  soldiers ;  Pompey  controlled  Spain, 
Africa,  Sicily,  Sardinia,  Greece,  and  the  provinces  of  Asia,  with 
the  prestige  of  his  great  name  and  the  enormous  resources  of 

the  East. 

Cesar's  first  care  was  to  pacify  Italy.  His  moderation  and 
prudence  won  all  classes  to  his  side.  Many  had  looked  to  see  the 
terrible  scenes  of  the  days  of  Marius  and  Sulla  re-enacted.  Caesar, 
however,  soon  gave  assurance  that  life  and  property  should  be 
held  sacred.  He  needed  money ;  but  to  avoid  laying  a  tax  upon 
the  people,  he  asked  for  the  treasure  kept  beneath  the  Capitol. 
Legend  declared  that  this  gold  was  the  actual  ransom-money 
which  Brennus  had  demanded  of  the  Romans  and  which  Camillus 
had  saved  by  his  timely  appearance  (see  p.  33).    It  was  esteemed 


THE  B A  TILE   OF  PHARSALUS, 


107 


sacred,  and  was  never  to  be  used  save  in  case  of  another  Gallic 
invasion.  When  Caesar  attempted  to  get  possession  of  the  treasure, 
the  tribune  Metellus  prevented  him ;  but  Caesar  impatiently 
brushed  him  aside,  saying,  "  The  fear  of  a  Gallic  invasion  is  over : 
I  have  subdued  the  Gauls." 

With  order  restored  in  Italy,  Caesar's  next  movement  was  to 
gain  control  of  the  wheat-fields  of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Africa.  A 
single  legion  brought  over  Sardinia  without  resistance  to  the  side 
of  Caesar.  Cato,  the  lieutenant  of  Pompey,  fled  from  before  Curio 
out  of  Sicily.  In  Africa,  however,  the  lieutenant  of  Caesar  sustained 
a  severe  defeat,  and  the  Pompeians  held  their  ground  there  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  Caesar,  meanwhile,  had  subjugated  Spain. 
In  forty  days  the  entire  peninsula  was  brought  under  his  authority. 
Massilia  had  ventured  to  close  her  gates  against  the  conqueror ; 
but  a  brief  siege  forced  the  city  to  capitulate.  Caesar  was  now 
free  to  turn  his  forces  against  Pompey  in  the  East. 

The  Battle  of  Pharsalus  (48  b.c.).— From  Brundisium  Caesar 
embarked  his  legions  for  Epirus.*  The  passage  was  an  enterprise 
attended  with  great  danger ;  for  Bibulus,  Pompey's  admiral,  swept 
the  sea  with  his  fleets.  It  was  not  without  having  sustained  severe 
losses  that  Caesar  eflected  a  landing  upon  the  shores  of  Greece. 
His  legions  mustered  barely  20,000  men.  Pompey's  forces  were 
at  least  double  this  number.  Caesar's  attempt  to  capture  the 
camp  of  his  rival  at  Dyrrachium  having  failed,  he  slowly  retired 
into  Thessaly,  and  drew  up  his  army  upon  the  plains  of  Pharsalus. 
Here  he  was  followed  by  Pompey.  The  adherents  of  the  latter 
were  so  confident  of  an  easy  victory  that  they  were  already  dis- 
puting about  the  offices  at  Rome,  and  were  renting  the  most 
eligible  houses  fronting  the  public  squares  of  the  capital.  The 
battle  was  at  length  joined.  It  proved  Pompey's  Waterloo. 
His  army  was  cut  to  pieces.  He  himself  fled  from  the  field,  and 
escaped  to  Egypt.  Just  as  he  was  landing,  he  was  stabbed  by 
one  of  his  former  lieutenants,  now  an  officer  at  the  Egyptian 
court.     The  reigning  Ptolemy  had  ordered  Pompey's  assassination 


108 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


in  hopes  of  pleasing  Caesar.    "  If  we  receive  him,"  said  he,  "we 
shall  make  Caesar  our  enemy  and  Pompey  our  master." 

The  head  of  the  great  general  was  severed  from  his  body ;  and 
when  Caesar,  who  was  pressing  after  Pompey  in  hot  pursuit,  landed 
in  Egypt,  the  bloody  trophy  was  brought  to  him.  He  turned  from 
the  sight  with  generous  tears.  It  was  no  longer  the  head  of  his 
rival,  but  of  his  old  associate  and  son-in-law.  He  ordered  his 
assassins  to  be  executed,  and  directed  that  fitting  obsequies  should 
be  performed  over  his  body. 

Close  of  the  Civil  War.  —  Caesar  was  detained  at  Alexandria 
nine  months  in  settling  a  dispute  respecting  the  throne  of  Egypt. 
After  a  severe  contest  he  overthrew  the  reigning  Ptolemy,  and 
secured  the  kingdom  to  the  celebrated  Cleopatra  and  a  younger 
brother.  Intelligence  was  now  brought  from  Asia  Minor  that 
Pharnaces,  son  of  Mithradates  the  Great,  was  inciting  a  revolt 
among  the  peoples  of  that  region.  Caesar  met  the  Pontic  king  at 
Zela,  defeated  him,  and  in  five  days  put  an  end  to  the  war.  His 
laconic  message  to  the  Senate,  announcing  his  victory,  is  famous. 
It  ran  thus  :  "F<f«/,  vidi,  viciy'  — "  I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquered." 

Caesar  now  hurried  back  to  Italy,  and  thence  proceeded  to 
Africa,  which  the  friends  of  the  old  republic  had  made  their  last 
chief  rallying-place.  At  the  great  battle  of  Thapsus  (46  B.C.) 
they  were  crushed.  Fifty  thousand  lay  dead  upon  the  field. 
Cato,  who  had  been  the  very  life  and  soul  of  the  army,  refusing 
to  outlive  the  republic,  took  his  own  life. 

Caesar's  Triumph.  —  Caesar  was  now  virtually  lord  of  the 
Roman  world.*  Although  he  refrained  from  assuming  the  title  of 
king,  no  Eastern  monarch  was  ever  possessed  of  more  absolute 
power,  or  surrounded  by  more  abject  flatterers  and  sycophants. 
He  was  invested  with  all  the  offices  and  dignities  of  the  state. 
The  Senate  made  him  perpetual  dictator,  and  conferred  upon  him 
the  powers  of  censor,  consul,  and  tribune,  with  the  titles  of  Pon- 

'  The  sons  of  Pompey  —  Gnaeus  and  Sextus  —  still  held  Spain.  Caesar  over- 
threw their  power  in  the  decisive  battle  of  Munda,  45  B.C. 


C^SAR  AS  A   STATESMAN. 


109 


tifex  Maximus  and  Imperator.  "  He  was  to  sit  in  a  golden  chair 
in  the  Senate-house,  his  image  was  to  be  borne  in  the  procession 
of  the  gods,  and  the  seventh  month  of  the  year  was  changed  in 
his  honor  from  Quintilis  to  Julius  [whence  our  July]." 

His  triumph  celebrating  his  many  victories  far  eclipsed  in  mag- 
nificence anything  that  Rome  had  before  witnessed.  In  the 
procession  were  led  captive  princes  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Beneath  his  standards  marched  soldiers  gathered  out  of  almost 
every  country  beneath  the  heavens.  Seventy-five  million  dollars 
of  treasure  were  displayed.  Splendid  games  and  tables  attested 
the  liberality  of  the  conqueror.  Sixty  thousand  couches  were  set 
for  the  multitudes.  The  shows  of  the  theatre  and  the  combats  of 
the  arena  followed  one  another  in  an  endless  round.  "  Above  the 
combats  of  the  amphitheatre  floated  for  the  first  time  the  awning 
of  silk,  the  immense  velarium  of  a  thousand  colors,  woven  from 
the  rarest  and  richest  products  of  the  East,  to  protect  the  people 
from  the  sun  "  (Gibbon). 

Csesar  as  a  Statesman.  —  Caesar  was  great  as  a  general,  yet 
greater,  if  possible,  as  a  statesman.  The  measures  which  he  in- 
stituted evince  profound  political  sagacity  and  surprising  breadth 
of  view.  He  sought  to  reverse  the  jealous  and  narrow  policy 
of  Rome  in  the  past,  and  to  this  end  rebuilt  both  Carthage  and 
Corinth  and  founded  numerous  colonies  in  all  the  different  prov- 
inces, in  which  he  settled  about  100,000  of  the  poorer  citizens  of 
the  capital.  Upon  some  of  the  provincials  he  conferred  full 
Roman  citizenship,  and  upon  others  Latin  rights  (see  p.  41,  note), 
and  thus  strove  to  blend  the  varied  peoples  and  races  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  empire  into  a  real  nationality,  with  community 
of  interests  and  sympathies.  He  reformed  the  calendar  so  as  to 
bring  the  festivals  once  more  in  their  proper  seasons,  and  provided 
against  further  confusion  by  making  the  year  consist  of  365  days, 
with  an  added  day  for  every  fourth  or  leap  year. 

Besides  these  achievements,  Caesar  projected  many  vast  under- 
takings, which  the  abrupt  termination  of  his  life  prevented  his  car- 
rying into  execution.     He  ordered  a  survey  of  the  enormous 


no 


LAST  CENTURY  OF   THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


if 


i 


! 


domains  of  the  state ;  he  proposed  to  make  a  code  or  digest  of 
the  Roman  laws  —  which  work  was  left  to  be  performed  by  the 
Emperor  Justinian  six  centuries  later ;  he  also  planned  many 
public  works  and  improvements  at  Rome,  among  which  were 
schemes  for  draining  the  Pontine  Marshes  and  for  changing  the 
course  of  the  Tiber.  He  further  proposed  to  cut  a  canal  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Corinth,  to  construct  roads  over  the  Apennines, 
and  to  form  a  library  to  take  the  place  of  the  great  Alexandrian 
collection,  which  had  been  partly  destroyed  during  his  campaign 
in  Egypt.  But  all  his  plans  were  brought  to  a  sudden  end  by  the 
daggers  of  assassins. 

The  Death  of  Caesar  (^44  b.c).  — Caesar  had  his  bitter  personal 
enemies,  who  never  ceased  to  plot  his  downfall.  There  were,  too, 
sincere  lovers  of  the  old  republic,  who  longed  to  see  restored  the 
liberty  which  the  conqueror  had  overthrown.  The  impression 
began  to  prevail  that  Caesar  was  aiming  to  make  himself  king.  A 
crown  was  several  times  offered  him  in  public  by  Mark  Antony ; 
but  seeing  the  manifest  displeasure  of  the  people,  he  each  time 
pushed  it  aside.  Yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  secretly  he  desired  it. 
It  was  reported  that  he  proposed  to  rebuild  the  walls  of  Troy, 
whence  the  Roman  race  had  sprung,  and  make  that  ancient  capital 
the  seat  of  the  new  Roman  empire.  Others  professed  to  beheve 
that  the  arts  and  charms  of  the  Egyptian  Cleopatra,  who  had 
borne  him  a  son  at  Rome,  would  entice  him  to  make  Alexandria 
the  centre  of  the  proposed  kingdom.  So,  many,  out  of  love  for 
Rome  and  the  old  republic,  were  led  to  enter  into  a  conspiracy 
against  the  life  of  Caesar  with  those  who  sought  to  rid  themselves 
of  the  dictator  for  other  and  personal  reasons. 

The  Ides  (the  15th  day)  of  March,  44  B.C.,  upon  which  day 
the  Senate  convened,  witnessed  the  assassination.  Seventy  or 
eighty  conspirators,  headed  by  Cassius  and  Bmtus,  both  of  whom 
had  received  special  favors  from  the  hands  of  Caesar,  were  con- 
cerned in  the  plot.  The  soothsayers  must  have  had  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  plans  of  the  conspirators,  for  they  had  warned  Caesar 
to  **  beware  of  the  Ides  of  March."     On  his  way  to  the  Senate- 


FUNERAL    ORATION  BY  MARK  ANTONY. 


in 


meeting  that  day,  a  paper  warning  him  of  his  danger  was  thrust 
into  his  hand ;  but,  not  suspecting  its  urgent  nature,  he  did  not 
open  it.  As  he  entered  the  assembly  chamber  he  observed  the 
astrologer  Spurinna,  and  remarked  carelessly  to  him,  referring  to 
his  prediction,  "  The  Ides  of  March  have  come."  "  Yes,"  replied 
Spurinna,  "  but  not  gone." 

No  sooner  had  Caesar  taken  his  seat  than  the  conspirators 
crowded  about  him  as  if  to  present  a  petition.  Upon  a  signal 
from  one  of  their  number  their  daggers  were  drawn.  For  a 
moment  Caesar  defended  himself;  but  seeing  Brutus,  upon  whom 
he  had  lavished  gifts  and  favors,  among  the  conspirators,  he  is 
said  to  have  exclaimed  reproachfully,  ^^Et  tii.  Brute  !  "  —  "  Thou, 
too,  Brutus  ! "  drew  his  mantle  over 
his  face,  and  received  unresistingly 
their  further  thrusts.  Pierced  with 
twenty-three  wounds,  he  sank  dead  at 
the  foot  of  Pompey's  statue. 

Funeral  Oration  by  Mark  An- 
tony. —  The  conspirators,  or  "  libera- 
tors," as  they  called  themselves,  had 
thought  that  the  Senate  would  con- 
firm, and  the  people  applaud,  their 
act.  But  both  people  and  senators, 
stnick  with  consternation,  were  silent. 
Men's  faces  grew  pale  as  they  re- 
called the  proscriptions  of  Sulla,  and 
saw  in  the  assassination  of  Cjesar  the  first  act  in  a  similar  reign 
of  terror.  As  the  conspirators  issued  from  the  assembly  hall,  and 
entered  the  Forum,  holding  aloft  their  bloody  daggers,  instead  of 
the  expected  acclamations  they  were  met  by  an  ominous  silence. 
The  liberators  hastened  for  safety  to  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Capi- 
tolinus,  going  thither  ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  giving  thanks 
for  the  death  of  the  tyrant. 

Upon  the  day  set  for  the  funeral  ceremonies,  Mark  Antony,  the 
trusted  friend  and  secretary  of  Caesar,  mounted  the  rostrum  in  the 


MARK    ANTONY. 


USr  CEMTUI^'V  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


domains  of  the  state ;  he  proposed  to  make  a  code  or  digest  of 
the  Roman  laws  —  which  work  was  left  to  be  performed  by  the 
Emperor  Justinian  sk  centuries  later;  he  also  planned  many 
public  works  and  improvements  at  Rome,  among  which  were 

schemes  for  dtiining  tlic  P©iitine  Miirslies.  ^nd  for  changing  the 
course  of  lie  Tiber.  He  forther  proposed  to  cut  a  canal  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Corinth,  to  construct  roads  over  the  Apennines, 
and  to  fowl  a  library  to  take  the  place  of  the  great  Alexandrian 
collection,  which  had  been  partly  destroyed  during  his  campaign 
in  Egypt.  But  all  his  ,plans  were  bionght  to  a  sudden  end  by  the 
daggers  of  assassins. 

The  Death  of  Csesar  (44  ex.).  —  Caesar  had  his  bitter  personal 
enemies,  who  never  ceased  to  plot  his  downfall.  There  were,  too, 
sincere  lovers  of  the  old  republic,  who  longed  to  see  restored  the 
liberty  wllcb  tic'  conqueror  had  'Overthrown.    Hie  liepfeision 

began  |o  prevail  that  Csesar  was  aiming  to  mate himself  king.    A 

crown  was  several  times  offered  him  in  public  by  Mark  Antony; 
but  seeing  the  manifest  displeasure  of  the  people,  he  each  time 
pushed  it  aside.  Yet  there  is  no  doiibt  that  secretly  he  desired  it. 
It  was  reported  that  he  pro'poised  tO'  rebuild  the  walls  of  Troy, 
whence  tie  Homao:  race  had  sprung,  and  make  that,  ancient  capital, 
the  seat  of  the  new  Roman  empire.  Others  professed  to  believe 
that  the  arts  and  charms  of  the  Egyptian  Cleoi)atra,  who  had 
borne  him  a  son  at  Rome,  would  entice  him  to  make  Alexandria 
the  centre  of  the  proposed  kingdom.  So,  many,  out  of  love  for 
Rome  wA  tie  old  republic,  were  led  to  enter  into  a  conspiracy 
againii  tic  life:  of  Qmm.  witli  those  who  sought  to  lid,  themselves 
of  the  dictator  for  other  and  personal  reasons. 

The  Ides  (the  15th  day)  of  March,  44  B.C.,  upon  which  day 
the  Senate  convened,  witnessed  the  assassination.  Seventy  or 
eiglity  conspirators,  headed,  by  Cassius  and  Bfi,t»%,  both  of  whom, 
had  received  special,  fitvoo,  ioni  fte  hands  of  "Cwiar,  were  con- 
cerned in  the  plot  ^Wm  soothsayers  must  have  had  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  plans  of  the  conspirators,  for  they  had  warned  Caesar 
to  "  beware  of  the  Ides  of  March."     On  his  way  to  the  Senate- 


FUNERAL    ORATION  BY  MARK  ANTONY. 


in 


meeting  that  day,  a  paper  warning  him  of  his  danger  was  thrust 
into  his  hand ;  but,  not  suspecting  its  urgent  nature,  he  did  not 
open  it.  As  he  entered  the  assembly  chamber  he  observed  the 
astrologer  Spurinna,  and  remarked  carelessly  to  him,  referring  to 
his  prediction,  "  The  Ides  of  March  have  come."  "  Yes,"  replied 
Spurinna,  "  but  not  gone." 

No  sooner  had  Csesar  taken  his  seat  than  the  conspirators 
crowded  about  him  as  if  to  present  a  petition.  Upon  a  signal 
from  one  of  their  number  their  daggers  were  drawn.  For  a 
moment  Csesar  defended  himself;  but  seeing  Brutus,  upon  whom 
he  had  lavished  gifts  and  favors,  among  the  conspirators,  he  is 
said  to  have  exclaimed  reproachfully,  ^'Et  ///,  Brute  !  "  —  "Thou, 
too,  Brutus  ! "  drew  his  mantle  over 
his  face,  and  received  unresistingly 
their  further  thrusts.  Pierced  with 
twenty-three  wounds,  he  sank  dead  at 
the  foot  of  Pomi)cy's  statue. 

Funeral  Oration  by  Mark  An- 
tony. —  The  conspirators,  or  "  libera- 
tors," as  they  called  themselves,  had 
thought  that  the  Senate  would  con- 
firm, and  the  people  applaud,  their 
act.  But  both  peoi)le  and  senators, 
struck  with  consternation,  were  silent. 
Men's  faces  grew  pale  as  they  re- 
called the  proscriptions  of  Sulla,  and 
saw  in  the  assassination  of  Caesar  the  first  act  in  a  similar  reign 
of  terror.  As  the  conspirators  issued  from  the  assembly  hall,  and 
entered  the  Forum,  holding  aloft  their  bloody  daggers,  instead  of 
the  expected  acclamations  they  were  met  by  an  ominous  silence. 
The  liberators  hastened  for  safety  to  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Capi- 
tolinus,  going  thither  ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  giving  thanks 
for  the  death  of  the  tyrant. 

Upon  the  day  set  for  the  funeral  ceremonies,  Mark  Antony,  the 
trusted  friend  and  secretary  of  Ciesar,  mounted  the  rostrum  in  the 


MARK    ANTONY. 


i 


112         LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBUC. 

Forum  to  deliver  the  usual  funeral  oration.  He  recounted  the 
great  deeds  of  Caesar,  the  glory  he  had  conferred  upon  the  Roman 
name,  dwelt  upon  his  liberality  and  his  munificent  bequests  to  the 
people  —  even  to  some  who  were  now  his  murderers ;  and  when 
he  had  wrought  the  feelings  of  the  multitude  to  the  highest  ten- 
sion, he  held  up  the  robe  of  Caesar,  and  showed  the  rents  made  by 
the  daggers  of  the  assassins.  Caesar  had  always  been  beloved 
by  the  people  and  idolized  by  his  soldiers.  They  were  now  driven 
almost  to  frenzy  with  grief  and  indignation.     Seizing  weapons  and 

torches,  they  rushed 
through  the  streets, 
vowing  vengeance 
upon  the  conspira- 
tors. The  liberators, 
however,  escaped 
from  the  fury  of  the 
mob  and  fled  from 
Rome,  Brutus  and 
Cassius  seeking 
refuge  in  Greece. 

The  Second  Tri- 
Timvirate.  —  Anto- 
ny had  gained  pos- 
session of  the  will 
and  papers  of  Cae- 
sar, and  now,  under 
color  of  carrying 
out  the  testament 
of  the  dictator,  ac- 
cording to  a  decree 
of  the  Senate,  en- 
tered upon  a  course 
of  high-handed 
usurpation.  He  was  aided  in  his  designs  by  Lepidus,  one  of  Caesar*s 
old  lieutenants.     Very  soon  he  was  exercising  all  the  powers  of 


JULIUS  OESAR. 
(From  a  Bust  in  the  Museum  of  the  Louvre.) 


THE  SECOND    TRIUMVIRATE. 


113 


a  real  dictator.  "The  tyrant  is  dead,"  said  Cicero,  "but  the 
tyranny  still  lives."  This  was  a  bitter  commentary  upon  the  words 
of  Brutus,  who,  as  he  drew  his  dagger  from  the  body  of  Csesar, 
turned  to  Cicero,  and  exclaimed,  "Rejoice,  O  Father  of  your 
Country,  for  Rome  is  free."  Rome  could  not  be  free,  the  re- 
public could  not  be  re-established,  because  the  old  love  for  virtue 
and  liberty  had  died  out  from  among  the  people  —  had  been 
overwhelmed  by  the  rising  tide  of  vice,  corruption,  sensuahty, 
and  irreligion  that  had  set  in  upon  the  capital. 

To  what  length  Antony  would  have  gone  in  his  career  of  usurpa- 
tion it  is  difficult  to  say,  had  he  not  been  opposed  at  this  point  by 
Gains  Octavius,  the  grand-nephew  of  Julius  Caesar,  and  the  one 
whom  he  had  named  in  his  will  as  his  heir  and  successor.  Upon 
the  Senate  declaring  in  favor  of  Octavius,  civil  war  immediately 
broke  out  between  him  and  Antony  and  Lepidus.  After  several 
indecisive  battles  between  the  forces  of  the  rival  competitors, 
Octavius  proposed  to  Antony  and  Lepidus  a  reconciliation.  The 
three  met  on  a  small  island  in  the  Rhenus,  a  little  stream  in 
northern  Etruria,  and  there  formed  a  league  known  as  the  Second 
Triumvirate  (43  B.C.). 

The  plans  of  the  triumvirs  were  infamous.  They  first  divided 
the  world  among  themselves  :  Octavius  was  to  have  the  govern- 
ment of  the  West ;  Antony,  that  of  the  East ;  while  to  Lepidus 
fell  the  control  of  Africa.  A  general  proscription,  such  as  had 
marked  the  coming  to  power  of  Sulla  (see  p.  91),  was  then  re- 
solved upon.  It  was  agreed  that  each  should  give  up  to  the 
assassin  such  friends  of  his  as  had  incurred  the  ill  will  of  either  of 
the  other  triumvirs.  Under  this  arrangement  Octavius  gave  up 
his  friend  Cicero,  —  who  had  incurred  the  hatred  of  Antony  by 
opposing  his  schemes,  —  and  allowed  his  name  to  be  put  at  the 
head  of  the  list  of  the  proscribed. 

The  friends  of  the  orator  urged  him  to  flee  the  country.  "  Let 
me  die,"  said  he,  "in  my  fatherland,  which  I  have  so  often 
saved ! "  His  attendants  were  hurrying  him,  half  unwilling, 
towards  the  coast,  when  his  pursuers  came  up  and  despatched  him 


112         LAST  CENTURY  OF  TME  ROMAN  REPUBUC. 

Foniiii  IP  dcivet  tiie  usual  faneral  oration.  He  recounted  the 
great  deeds  of  Caesar,  the  glory  he  had  conferred  upon  the  Roman 
name,  dwelt  upon  his  liberality  and  his  munificent  bequests  to  the 
people  —  even  to  some  who  were  now  his  murderers ;  and  when 
he  had  wrought  tfie  feelings  of  tie  inoltittide  to  the  highest  ten- 
sion, he  held  up  the  foljC"  <lf 'Csesaif,  ami  showed  tllf '  rente  made  by 
the  daggers  of  tie  assassins.  Czesar  had  always  been  beloved 
by  the  people  and  idolized  by  his  soldiers.  They  were  now  driven 
almost  to  frenzy  with  grief  and  indignation.     Seizing  weapons  and 

torches,  they  inif^eci 
through  the  streets, 
vowing  vengeance 
upon  the  conspira- 
tors. The  liberators, 
however,  escaped 
from  the  fury  of  the 
mob  and  fled  from 
Rome,  Brutus  and 
Cassius  seeking 
refuge  in  (ireece. 

The  Second  Tri- 
umvirate. —  Anto- 
ny had  gained  pos- 
session of  the  will 
and  papers  of  Cje- 
sar,  and  now,  under 
color  of  cart  jing 
out  the  testament 
of  the  dictator,  ac- 
cording to  a  decree 
of  the  Senate,  en- 
tered upon  a  course 
of  high-handed 
usurpation.  He  was  aided  in  his  designs  by  Lepidus,  one  of  Caesar's 
old  lieutenants.     Very  soon  he  was  exercising  all  the  powers  of 


jyuus  CiCSAR. 

(From  a  Bust  in  the  Museum  of  the  Louvre.) 


THE  SECOND    TRIUMVIRATE. 


113 


a  real  dictator.  *' The  tyrant  is  dead,"  said  Cicero,  "but  the 
tyranny  still  lives."  This  was  a  bitter  commentary  upon  the  words 
of  Brutus,  who,  as  he  drew  his  dagger  from  the  body  of  Caesar, 
turned  to  Cicero,  and  exclaimed,  "Rejoice,  ()  Father  of  your 
Country,  for  Rome  is  free."  Rome  could  not  be  free,  the  re- 
public could  not  be  re-established,  because  the  old  love  for  virtue 
and  liberty  had  died  out  from  among  the  people  —  had  been 
overwhelmed  by  the  rising  tide  of  vi(  e,  corruption,  sensuality, 
and  irreligion  that  had  set  in  upon  the  capital. 

To  what  length  Antony  would  have  gone  in  his  career  of  usurpa- 
tion it  is  diflicult  to  say,  had  he  not  been  opi)osed  at  this  point  by 
Gains  Octavius,  the  gran(l-nei)hew  of  Julius  Caesar,  and  the  one 
whom  he  had  named  in  his  will  as  his  heir  and  successor.  Upon 
the  Senate  declaring  in  favor  of  Octavius,  civil  war  immediately 
broke  out  between  him  and  Antony  and  Lepidus.  After  several 
indecisive  battles  between  the  forces  of  the  rival  competitors, 
Octavius  proposed  to  Antony  and  Lepidus  a  reconciliation.  The 
three  met  on  a  small  island  in  the  Rhenus,  a  little  stream  in 
northern  Etruria,  and  there  formed  a  league  known  as  the  Second 
Triumvirate  (43  i5.c.). 

The  plans  of  the  triumvirs  were  infomous.  They  first  divided 
the  world  among  themselves  :  Octavius  was  to  have  the  govern- 
ment of  the  \Vest ;  Antony,  that  of  the  East ;  while  to  Lepidus 
fell  the  control  of  Africa.  A  general  proscription,  such  as  had 
marked  the  coming  to  power  of  Sulla  (see  p.  91),  was  then  re- 
solved upon.  It  was  agreed  that  each  should  give  up  to  the 
assassin  such  friends  of  his  as  had  incurred  the  ill  will  of  either  of 
the  other  triumvirs.  Under  this  arrangement  Octavius  gave  up 
his  friend  Cicero,  —  who  had  incurred  the  hatred  of  Antony  by 
opposing  his  schemes,  —  and  allowed  his  name  to  be  put  at  the 
head  of  the  list  of  the  proscribed. 

The  friends  of  the  orator  urged  him  to  flee  the  country.  "  Let 
me  die,"  said  he,  "in  my  fatherlaml,  which  I  have  so  often 
saved !  '*  His  attendants  were  hurrying  him,  half  unwilling, 
towards  the  coast,  when  his  pursuers  came  up  and  despatched  him 


114 


LAST  CENTURY  OF   THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC, 


c 

-r 


in  the  litter  in  which  he  was  being  carried.  His  head  was  taken 
to  Rome,  and  set  up  in  front  of  the  rostrum,  "  from  which  he 
had  so  often  addressed  the  people  with  his  eloquent  appeals  for 
liberty."  It  is  told  that  Fulvia,  the  wife  of  Antony,  ran  her  gold 
bodkin  through  the  tongue,  in  revenge  for  the  bitter  philippics  it 
had  uttered  against  her  husband.  The  right  hand  of  the  victim 
—  the  hand  that  had  penned  the  eloquent  orations — was  nailed 
to  the  rostrum. 

Cicero  was  but  one  victim  among  many  hundreds.  All  the 
dreadful  scenes  of  the  days  of  Sulla  were  re-enacted.  Three  hun- 
dred senators  and  two  thousand  knights  were  murdered.  The 
estates  of  the  wealthy  were  confiscated,  and  conferred  by  the  tri- 
umvirs upon  their  friends  and  favorites. 

Last  Struggle  of  the  Republic  at  PMlippi  (42  b.c).  —  The 
friends  of  the  old  republic,  and  the  enemies  of  the  triumvirs,  were 
meanwhile  rallying  in  the  East.  Bnitus  and  Cassius  were  the  ani- 
mating spirits.  The  Asiatic  provinces  were  plundered  to  raise 
money  for  the  soldiers  of  the  liberators.  Octavius  and  Antony,  as 
soon  as  they  had  disposed  of  their  enemies  in  Italy,  crossed  the 
Adriatic  into  Greece,  to  disperse  the  forces  of  the  republicans 
there.  The  liberators,  advancing  to  meet  them,  passed  over  the 
Hellespont  into  Thrace. 

Tradition  tells  how  one  night  a  spectre  appeared  to  Brutus  and 
seemed  to  say,  "  I  am  thy  evil  genius ;  we  will  nm^  again  at  Phi- 
lippi."  At  Philippi,  in  Thrace,  the  hostile  armies  did  meet  (42  n.c). 
In  two  successive  engagements  the  new  levies  of  the  liberators 
were  cut  to  pieces,  and  both  Brutus  and  Cassius,  believing  the 
cause  of  the  republic  forever  lost,  committed  suicide.  It  was, 
indeed,  the  last  effort  of  the  republic.  The  history  of  the  events 
that  lie  between  the  action  at  Philippi  and  the  establishment  of 
the  empire  is  simply  a  record  of  the  stniggles  among  the  triumvirs 
for  the  possession  of  the  prize  of  supreme  power.  After  various 
redistributions  of  provinces,  Lepidus  was  at  length  expelled  from 
the  triumvirate,  and  then  again  the  Roman  world,  as  in  the  times 


ANTONY  AND   CLEOPATRA. 


115 


of  Caesar  and  Pompey,  was  in  the  hands  of  two  masters  —  Antony 
in  the  East,  and  Octavius  in  the  West. 

Antony  and  Cleopatra.  —  After  the  batde  of  Philippi,  Antony 
went  into  Asia  for  the  purpose  of  setding  the  affairs  of  the  prov- 
inces and  vassal  states  there.  He  summoned  Cleopatra,  the  fair 
queen  of  Egypt,  to  meet  him  at  Tarsus,  in  Cilicia,  there  to  give 
account  to  him  for  the  aid  she  had  rendered  the  liberators.  She 
obeyed  the  summons,  relying  upon  the  power  of  her  charms  to 
appease  the  anger  of  the  triumvir.  She  ascended  the  Cydnus  in  a 
gilded  barge,  with  oars  of  silver  and  sails  of  purple  silk.  Beneath 
awnings  wrought  of  the  richest  manufactures  of  the  East,  the 
beautiful  queen,  attired  to  personate  Venus,  reclined  amidst  lovely 
attendants  dressed  to  represent  cupids  and  nereids.  Antony  was 
completely  fascinated,  as  had  been  the  great  Caesar  before  him, 
by  the  dazzling  beauty  of  the  "  Serpent  of  the  Nile."  Enslaved 
by  her  enchantments,  and  charmed  by  her  brilliant  wit,  in  the 
pleasure  of  her  company  he  forgot  all  else  —  ambition  and  honor 
and  country. 

The  days  and  nights  were  spent  in  one  round  of  banquets, 
games,  and  revelries.  It  is  said  that  the  queen,  at  the  close  of 
a  banquet,  in  order  to  win  a  wager  that  she  could  consume 
10,000,000  sesterces  at  one  meal,  dissolved,  in  a  cup  of  vinegar,  a 
peari  of  fabulous  worth,  and  then  carelessly  swallowed  the  costly 
draught.  In  ingenious  ways  she  amused  the  Roman  voluptuary, 
arraying  herself  now  as  Venus  and  then  as  Isis,  while  he  perso- 
nated Bacchus  and  Osiris.  Upon  their  fishing  excursions  she 
employed  divers  to  fasten  enormous  fishes  to  the  hook  of  her 
lover. 

Once,  indeed,  Antony  did  rouse  himself  and  break  away  from 
his  enslavement,  to  lead  the  Roman  legions  against  the  Parthians. 
With  an  army  of  100,000  men  he  crossed  the  Euphrates  and 
the  Tigris,  and  with  reckless  daring  plunged  amidst  the  defiles 
and  snowy  passes  of  the  mountains  beyond.  But  the  storms 
of  approaching  winter,  and  the  incessant  attacks  of  the  Parthian 
cavalry,  at  length  forced  him  to  make  a  hurried  and  disastrous 


116         LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 

retreat.  The  loss,  the  suffering,  and  the  disgrace  attending  this 
ill-fated  expedition  rivalled  the  calamities  and  dishonor  of  the 
memorable  defeat  of  Crassus.  Antony  hastened  back  to  Egypt, 
and  sought  to  forget  his  shame  and  disappointment  amidst  the 
revels  of  the  Egyptian  court. 

The  Battle  of  Aetium  (31  b.c).  —  Affairs  could  not  long  con- 
tinue in  their  present  course.     Antony  had  put  away  his  faithful 
wife  Octavia  for  the   beautiful  Cleopatra.     It  was  whispered   at 
Rome,  and  not  without  truth,  that  he  proposed  to  make  Alexan- 
dria the  capital  of  the  Roman  world,  and  announce  Caesarion,  son 
of  Julius  Caesar  and  Cleopatra,  as  heir  of  the  empire.     All  Rome 
was  stirred.     It  was  evident  that  a  conflict  was  at  hand  in  which 
the  question  for  decision  would  be  whether  the  West  should  rule 
the  East,  or  the  East  rule  the  West.     All  eyes  were  instinctively 
turned  to  Octavius  as  the  defender  of  Italy,  and  the  supporter  of 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Eternal  Cit>\     Both  parties  made  the  most 
gigantic  preparations.    Octavius  met  the  combined  fleets  of  Antony 
and  Cleopatra  just  off  the  promontory  of  Aetium,  on  the  Grecian 
coast.     While  the  issue  of  the  battle  that  there  took  place  was  yet 
undecided,  Cleopatra  turned  her  galley  in  flight.     The  Egyptian 
ships,  to  the  number  of  fifty,  followed  her  example.     Antony,  as 
soon  as  he  perceived  the  withdrawal  of  Cleopatra,  forgot  all  else, 
and   followed  in  her  track  with  a  swift  galley.     Overtaking  the 
fleeing  queen,  the  infatuated  man  was  received  aboard  her  vessel, 
and  became  her  partner  in  the  disgraceful  flight. 

The  abandoned  fleet  and  army  surrendered  to  Octavius.  The 
conqueror  was  now  sole  master  of  the  civilized  world.  From  this 
decisive  battle  (31  B.C.)  are  usually  dated  the  end  of  the  republic 
and  the  beginning  of  the  empire.  Some,  however,  make  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  empire  date  from  the  year  2  7  B.C.,  as  it  was  not 
until  then  that  Octavius  was  formally  invested  wMth  imperial  powers. 
Deaths  of  Antony  and  Cleopatra.  —  Octavius  pursued  Antony 
to  Egypt,  where  the  latter,  deserted  by  his  army,  and  informed 
by  a  messenger  from  the  false  queen  that  she  was  dead,  committed 
suicide.    This  was  exactly  what  Cleopatra  anticipated  he  would 


DEATHS   OF   ANTONY  AND   CLEOPATRA.  117 

do,  and  hoped  thus  to  rid  herself  of  a  now  burdensome  lover. 
When,  however,  the  dying  Antony,  in  accordance  with  his  wish, 
was  borne  to  her,  the  old  love  returned,  and  he  expired  in  her 

arms. 

Cleopatra  then  sought  to  enslave  Octavius  with  her  charms ; 
but,  failing  in  this,  and  becoming  convinced  that  he  proposed  to 
take  her  to  Rome  that  she  might  there  grace  his  triumph,  she 
took  her  own  life,  being  in  the  thirty-eighth  year  of  her  age. 
Tradition  says  that  she  effected  her  purpose  by  applying  a  poison- 
ous asp  to  her  arm.  But  it  is  really  unknown  in  what  way  she 
killed  herself.  It  is  only  certain  that,  when  the  chamber  of  the 
mausoleum  in  which  she  had  shut  herself  up  was  one  day  entered 
by  the  officers  of  Octavius,  she  was  found  lying  dead  among  her 
attendants,  with  no  mark  of  injury  upon  her  body. 


I 

Ml 

^1 


118 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 


REIGN  OF  AUGUSTUS  CjESAR. 


119 


CHRONOLOGICAL  REVIEW  OF  THE  ROMAN    REPUBLIC. 

B.C. 

Republic  established  and  first  consuls  elected 509 

First  secession  of  plebeians 494 

Cincinnatus  made  dictator 458 

Election  of  first  decemvirs 451 

First  censors  elected 444 

Capture  of  Veil 396 

Sack  of  Rome  by  Gauls  undcf  Iwilltis 390 

Samnite  wars 343-290 

War  with  Pyrrhus 282-272 

First  Punic  War 264-241 

Second  Punic  War 218-201 

Third  Punic  War 149-146 

Destruction  of  Numantia 133 

First  Servile  War 134-132 

Jugurthine  War 111-104 

Marius  defeats  the  Teutones  and  Cimbri 102-101 

Civil  Wars  between  Marius  and  Sulla 88-82 

Pompey  defeats  Mediterranean  pirates 66 

Conspiracy  of  Catiline 64-62 

First  triumvirate  formed 60 

Conquests  of  Csesar  in  Gaul  and  Britain 58-51 

Battle  of  Pharsalus;   Pompey  flees  to  Egypt  and  is  murdered    ...  48 

Battle  of  Thapsus;  Caesar  becomes  dictator  of  Roman  world     ...  46 

Murder  of  Caesar 44 

Battle  of  Philippi;   deaths  of  Brutus  and  Cassius 42 

Republic  ends  with  battle  of  Actium  between  Octavius  and  Antony  .  31 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   ROMAN   EMPIRE. 
(From  31  B.C.  to  a.d.  180.) 

Keign  of  Augustus  Csesar  (31  b.c.  to  a.d.  14).— The  hundred 
years  of  strife  which  ended  with  the  battle  of  Actium  left  the 
Roman  republic,  exhausted  and  helpless,  in  the  hands  of  one  wise 
enough  and  strong  enough  to  remould  its  crumbling  fragments  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  state,  which  seemed  ready  to  fall  to  pieces, 
might  prolong  its  existence  for  another  five  hundred  years.  It  was 
a  great  work  thus  to  create  anew,  as  it  were,  out  of  anarchy  and 
chaos,  a  political  fabric  that  should  exhibit  such  elements  of  per- 
petuity and  strength.  "  The  establishment  of  the  Roman  empire," 
says  Merivale,  "  was,  after  all,  the  greatest  political  work  that  any 
human  being  ever  wrought.  The  achievements  of  Alexander,  of 
C^sar,  of  Charlemagne,  of  Napoleon,  are  not  to  be  compared 

with  it  for  a  moment." 

The  government  which  Octavius  estabUshed  was  a  monarchy  m 
fact,  but  a  repubhc  in  form.     Mindful  of  the  fate  of  Juhus  Caesar, 
who'  fell  because  he  gave  the  lovers  of  the  republic  reason  to 
think  that  he  coveted  the  title  of  king,  Octavius  carefully  veiled 
his  really  absolute  sovereignty  under  the  forms  of  the  old  repub- 
lican state.     The  Senate  still  existed  ;  but  so  completely  subjected 
were  its  members  to  the  influence  of  the  conqueror  that  the  only 
function  it  really  exercised  was  the  conferring  of  honors  and  titles 
and  abject  flatteries  upon  its  master.     All  the  republican  officials 
remained  ;  but  Octavius  absorbed  and  exercised  their  chief  powers 
and  functions.     He  had  the  powers  of  consul,  tribune,  censor,  and 
Pontifex  Maximus.     All  the  republican  magistrates  —  the  consuls, 
the  tribunes,  the  prsetors  —  were  elected  as  usual;  but  they  were 
smiply  the  nominees  and  creatures  of  the  emperor.     They  were 


i 


MIMilllili 


120 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


the  effigies  and  figure-heads  to  delude  the  people  into  believing 
that  the  republic  still  existed.  Never  did  a  people  seem  more 
content  with  the  shadow  after  the  loss  of  the  substance. 

The  Sen- 
ate, acting 
under  the 
inspiration 
of  Octavius, 
withh  eld 
f  r  o  m  him 
the   title  of 

king,  which  ever  since  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Tarquins,  five 
centuries  before  this  time,  had 
been  intolerable  to  the  peo- 
ple ;  but  they  conferred  upon 
him  the  titles  of  Imperator 
and  Augustus,  the  latter  hav- 
ing been  hitherto  sacred  to  the 
gods.  The  sixth  month  of  the 
Roman  year  was  called  Au- 
gustus (whence  our  August) 
in  his  honor,  an  act  in  imi- 
tation of  that  by  which  the 
preceding  month  had  been 
given  the  name  of  Julius  in 
honor  of  Julius  Caesar. 

The  domains  over  which 
Augustus  held  sway  were  im- 
perial in  magnitude.  They 
stretched  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Euphrates,  and  upon 
the  north  were  hemmed  by 
the  forests  of  Germany  and 
the  bleak  steppes  of  Scythia,  and  were  bordered  on  the  south  by 


REIGN  OF  AUGUSTUS  CMSAR, 


121 


AUGUSTUS. 


the  sands  of  the  African  desert  and  the  dreary  wastes  of  Arabia, 
which  seemed  the  boundaries  set  by  nature  to  dominion  m  those 
directions  Within  these  limits  were  crowded  more  than  100,000,- 
000  people,  embracing  every  conceivable  condition  and  variety  in 
race  and  culture,  from  the  rough  barbarians  of  Gaul  to  the  refined 

voluptuary  of  the  East. 

Octavius  was  the  first  to  moderate  the  ambition  of  the  Romans, 
and  to  counsel  them  not  to  attempt  to  conquer  any  more  of  the 
world,  but  rather  to  devote  their  energies  to  the  work  of  consoli- 
dating the  domains  already  acquired.  He  saw  the  dangers  that 
would  attend  any  further  extension  of  the  boundaries  of  the  state. 

The  reign  of  Augustus  lasted  forty-four  years,  from  31  B.C.  to  a.d. 
14      It  embraced  the  most  splendid  period  of  the  annals  of  Rome. . 
Under  the  patronage  of  the  emperor,  and  that  of  his  favorite  1 
minister  Maecenas,  poets  and  writers  flourished  and  made  this  the 
"golden  age  "  of  Latin  literature.     During  this  reign  Virgil  com- 
posed his  immortal  epic  of  the  ^neid,  and  Horace  his  famous 
odes  •  while  Livy  wrote  his  inimitable  history,  and  Ovid  his  Meta- 
morphoses.    Many  who  lamented  the  fall  of  the  republic  sought 
solace  in  the  pursuit  of  letters ;  and  in  this  they  were  encouraged 
by  Augustus,  as  it  gave  occupation  to  many  restless  spirits  that 
would  otherwise  have  been  engaged  in  poUtical  intrigues  against 

his  government. 

Augustus  was  also  a  munificent  patron  of  architecture  and  art. 
He  adorned  the  capital  with  many  splendid  structures.  Said  he 
proudly,  "  I  found  Rome  a  city  of  brick  ;  I  left  it  a  city  of  mar- 
ble "  The  population  of  the  city  at  this  time  was  probably  about 
I  000,000.  Two  other  cities  of  the  empire,  Antioch  and  Alexan- 
dria, are  thought  to  have  had  each  about  this  same  number  of 
citizens.  These  cities,  too,  were  made  magnificent  with  architec- 
tural and  art  embellishments. 

Although  the  government  of  Augustus  was  disturbed  by  some 
troubles  upon  the  frontiers,  still  never  before,  perhaps,  did  the 
world  enjoy  so  long  a  period  of  general  rest  from  the  preparation 
and  turmoil  of  war.    Three  times  during  this  auspicious  reign  the 


I 


% 


120 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


RRTGN  OF  AUGUSTUS  CESAR. 


121 


the  effigies  and  figure-heads  to  dekide  the  people  into  believing 
that  lie  lepwHic  still  existed.  Never  did  a  people  seem  more 
content  witli  tie  shadow  after  the  loss  of  the  substance. 

The  Sen- 
ate, acting 
under  the 
inspiration 
of  Octavius, 
withheld 
f  r  o  m  him 
the   title   of 

king,  which  ever  since  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Tarquins,  five 
centuries  before  this  tim^,li|id 
been  intolerable  to  the  peo- 
ple ;  but  they  conferred  upon 
him  the  titles  of  Imperator 
and  Augustus,  the  latter  hav- 
ing been  hitherto  sacred  to  the 
gods.  The  sixth  month  of  the 
Roman  year  was  called  Au- 
gustus (whence  our  August) 
in  his  honor,  «IS  act  in  imi- 
tation of  that  by  which  the 
preceding  month  had  been 
given  the  name  of  Julius  in 
honor  of  Julius  Caesar. 

The  domains  over  which 
Augustus  held  sway  were  im- 
perial in  magnitude.  Uley 
stretched  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Euphrates,  and  upon 
the  north  were  hemmed  by 
the  forests  of  Ciermany  and 
the  bleak  steppes  of  Scftiia,  and  we«c  bordered  on  the  south  by 


I 


\ 


the  sands  of  the  African  desert  and  the  dreary  wastes  of  Arabia, 
which  seemed  the  boundaries  set  by  nature  to  dominion  m  those 
directions.  Within  these  limits  were  crowded  more  than  100,000,- 
000  people,  embracing  every  conceivable  condition  and  variety  111 
race  and  culture,  from  the  rough  barbarians  of  Claul  to  the  refined 

voluptuary  of  the  East. 

Octavius  was  the  first  to  moderate  the  ambition  of  the  Romans, 
and  to  counsel  them  not  to  attempt  to  conquer  any  more  of  the 
worid.  but  rather  to  devote  their  energies  to  die  work  of  consoli- 
dating the  domains  already  acquire.l.     He  saw  the  dangers  that 
would  attend  any  further  extension  of  the  boundaries  of  the  state. 
The  rei-'n  of  Augustus  lasted  forty-four  years,  from  31  v.x.  to  A.n. 
,4      It  embraced  the  most  splendid  period  of  the  annals  ot  Rome. 
Under  the  patronage  of  the  emperor,  and  that  of  Ins  favorite 
minister  Mscenas,  poets  and  writers  flourished  and  made  this  the 
"golden  age"  of  Latin  literature.     During  this  reign  Virgil  com- 
pose<l  his  immortal  epic  of  the  .'E.uid,  and  Horace  his  famous 
odes  ■  while  Livy  wrote  his  inimitable  history,  and  Ovid  his  Meta- 
morphoses.    Many  who  lamented  the  foil  of  the  republic  sought 
solace  in  the  pursuit  of  letters ;  and  in  this  they  were  encourage.l 
by  Augustus,  as  it  gave  occupation  to  many  restless  spirits  that 
would  otherwise  have  been  engaged  in  political  intrigues  against 

his  government. 

Augustus  was  also  a  munificent  patron  of  architecture  and  art. 
He  adorned  the  capital  with  many  splendid  stnictures.  Said  he 
proudly,  "  I  found  Rome  a  city  of  brick ;  I  left  it  a  city  of  mar- 
ble "  The  population  of  the  city  at  this  time  was  probably  about 
I  000  000.  Two  other  cities  of  the  empire,  Antioch  and  Alexan- 
dria, are  thought  to  have  had  each  about  this  same  number  of 
citizens.  These  cities,  too,  were  made  magnificent  with  architec- 
tural and  art  embellishments. 

Although  the  government  of  Augustus  was  disturbed  by  some 
troubles  upon  the  frontiers,  still  never  before,  perhaps,  did  the 
world  enjoy  so  long  a  period  of  general  rest  from  the  preparation 
and  turmoil  of  war.    Three  times  during  this  auspicious  reign  the 


^   1 
1 


122 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


gates  of  the  Temple  of  Janus  at  Rome,  which  were  open  m  time 
of  war  and  closed  in  time  of  peace,  were  shut.  Only  twice  before 
during  the  entire  history  of  the  city  had  they  been  closed,  so  con- 
stantly had  the  Roman  people  been  engaged  in  war.  It  was  in 
the  midst  of  this  happy  reign,  when  profound  peace  prevailed 
throughout  the  civilized  world,  that  Christ  was  born  in  Bethlehem 
of  Judea.  The  event  was  unheralded  at  Rome  ;  yet  it  was  filled 
with  profound  significance,  not  only  for  the  Roman  empire,  but 
for  the  world. 

The  latter  years  of  the  life  of  Augustus  were  clouded  both  by 
domestic  bereavement  and  national  disaster.  His  beloved  nephew 
Marcellus,  and  his  two  grandsons,  Gaius  and  Lucius,  whom  he 
purposed  making  his  heirs,  were  all  removed  by  death  ;  and  then, 
far  away  in  the  German  forest,  his  general  Varus,  who  had  at- 
tempted to  rule  the  freedom-loving  Teutons  as  he  had  governed 
the  abject  Asiatics  of  the  Eastern  provinces,  was  surprised  by  the 
barbarians,  led  by  their  brave  chief  Hermann,  —  called  Arminius 
by  the  Romans, —  and  his  army  destroyed  almost  to  a  man  (a.d.  9). 
Twenty  thousand  of  the  legionaries  lay  dead  and  unburied  in  the 
tangled  woods  and  morasses  of  Germany. 

The  disaster  caused  great  consternation  at  Rome ;  for  it  was 
feared  that  the  German  tribes  would  now  cross  the  Rhine,  effect 
an  alliance  with  the  Gauls,  and  then  that  these  united  hordes 
would  pour  over  the  Alps  into  Italy.  Augustus,  wearied  and  worn 
already  with  advancing  age,  the  cares  of  empire,  and  domestic 
affliction,  was  inconsolable.  He  paced  his  palace  in  agony,  and 
kept  exclaiming,  "  O  Varus  !  Varus  !  give  me  back  my  legions  !  give 
me  back  my  legions  ! "  But  Tiberius,  whom  Augustus,  after  the 
death  of  Gaius  and  of  Lucius,  had  appointed  his  heir  and  suc- 
cessor, so  carefully  guarded  the  Rhine  that  the  Germans  did  not  at- 
tempt the  passage,  and  Italy  was  saved  from  the  threatened  invasion. 

The  victory  of  Arminius  over  the  Roman  legions  was  an  event 
of  the  greatest  significance  in  the  history  of  European  civilization. 
Germany  was  almost  overrun  by  the  Roman  army.  The  Teutonic 
tribes  were  on  the  point  of  being  completely  subjugated  and 


\\ 


REIGN  OF  TIBERIUS. 


123 


Romanized,  as  had  been  the  Celts  of  Gaul  before  them.  Had 
this  occurred,  the  entire  history  of  Europe  would  have  been 
changed ;  for  the  Germanic  element  is  the  one  that  has  given 
shape  and  color  to  the  important  events  of  the  last  fifteen  hundred 
years.  Among  these  barbarians,  too,  were  our  ancestors.  Had 
Rome  succeeded  in  exterminating  or  enslaving  them,  Britain,  as 
Creasy  says,  might  never  have  received  the  name  of  England,  and 
the  great  EngHsh  nation  might  never  have  had  an  existence.* 

In  the  year  a.d.  14,  Augustus  died,  having  reached  the  seventy- 
sixth  year  of  his  age.  His  last  words  to  the  friends  gathered 
about  his  bedside  were,  "  If  I  have  acted  well  my  part  in  Hfe's 
drama,  greet  my  departure  with  your  applause."  It  was  believed 
that  the  soul  of  Augustus  ascended  visibly  amidst  the  flames  of 
his  funeral  pyre.  By  decree  of  the  Senate  divine  worship  was 
accorded  to  him,  and  temples  were  erected  in  his  honor. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  the  acts  of  Augustus,  in  its  in- 
fluence upon  following  events,  was  the  formation  of  the  Praeto- 
rian Guard,  which  was  designed  for  a  sort  of  body-guard  to  the 
emperor.  In  the  succeeding  reign  this  body  of  soldiers,  about 
10,000  in  number,  was  given  a  permanent  camp  alongside  the 
city  walls.  It  soon  became  a  formidable  power  in  the  state,  and 
made  and  unmade  emperors  at  will. 

Beign  of  Tiberius  (a.d.  14-37).  —  Tiberius  succeeded  to  an 
unlimited  sovereignty.  The  Senate  conferred  upon  him  all  the 
titles  that  had  been  w^orn  by  Augustus.  One  of  the  first  acts  of 
Tiberius  gave  the  last  blow  to  the  ancient  republican  institutions. 
He  took  away  from  the  popular  assembly  the  privilege  of  electing 
the  consuls  and  praetors,  and  bestowed  the  same  upon  the  Senate, 
which,  however,  must  elect  from  candidates  presented  by  the 
emperor.     As  the  Senate  was  the  creation  of  the  emperor,  who  as 


M 


1  "  We  stand  here  at  a  turning-point  in  national  destinies.  History,  too, 
has  its  flow  and  its  ebb;  here,  after  the  tide  of  Roman  sway  over  the  world 
has  attained  its  height,  the  ebb  sets  in.  Northward  of  Italy  the  Roman  rule 
had  for  a  few  years  reached  as  far  as  the  Elbe;  after  the  battle  of  Varus  its 
bounds  were  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube."  —  Mommsen. 


124 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE, 


censor  made  up  the  list  of  its  members,  he  was  now  of  course  the 
source  and  fountain  of  all  patronage.  During  the  first  years  of 
his  reign,  Tibenus  used  his  practically  unrestrained  authority  with 
moderation  and  justice,  being  seemingly  desirous  of  promoting  the 
best  interests  of  all  classes  in  his  vast  empire. 


TIBERIUS. 
(From  a  Bust  in  the  Capitoline  Museum.) 

The  beginning  of  his  reign  was  marked  by  revolts  among  the 
legions,  the  most  serious  discontent  manifesting  itself  among  those 
guardmg  the  Rhine,  who  wished  to  raise  to  the  throne  their  favor- 
ite general  Germanicus,  nephew  of  Tiberius.  But  Germanicus 
sternly  refused  to  take  part  in  such  an  act  of  treachery,  reproved 
lus  soldiers,  and  then  drew  their  attention  from  such  thoughts  of 


REIGN  OF  TIBERIUS. 


125 


V* 


disloyalty  by  leading  them  across  the  Rhine  to  recover  the  lost 
standards  of  Varus.  He  was  so  far  successful  in  this  bold  enter- 
prise as  to  retake  the  lost  eagles  and  capture  the  wife  of  Arminius. 
But  at  this  moment,  when  Germanicus  seemed  on  the  point  of 
laying  the  Roman  yoke  upon  the  tribes  of  Germany,  Tiberius, 
moved,  it  is  conjectured,  by  jealousy,'  recalled  him  from  the  Rhen- 
ish frontier,  and  sent  him  into  the  Eastern  provinces,  where  he 
soon  after  died,  having  been  poisoned,  as  was  charged,  by  an 
agent  of  the  jealous  emperor. 

Despotic  power  is  a  dangerous  possession,  likely  to  prove 
terribly  harmful  to  him  who  wields  it,  as  well  as  to  those  over 
whom  it  is  exercised.  Very  few  natures  can  withstand  the  seduc- 
tive temptations,  the  corrupting  influences,  of  unrestrained  and 
irresponsible  authority .^  Hence  the  long  series  of  excesses  and 
crimes  which  we  shall  now  find  making  up  a  large  part  of  the 
annals  of  the  Roman  emperors. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  intentions  with  which  Tiberius 
began  his  reign  he  soon  yielded  to  the  promptings  of  a  naturally 
cruel,  suspicious,  and  jealous  nature,  and  entered  upon  a  course  of 
the  most  high-handed  tyranny.  He  enforced  oppressively  an  old 
law,  known  as  the  Law  of  Majesias,  which  made  it  a  capital 
offence  for  any  one  to  speak  a  careless  word,  or  even  to  entertain 

1  Other  motives  doubtless  concurred.  "They  [Augustus  and  Tiberius]  rec- 
ognized the  plans  pursued  by  them  for  twenty  years  for  the  changing  of  the 
boundary  to  the  north  as  incapable  of  execution,  and  the  subjugation  and  mas- 
tery of  the  region  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe  appeared  to  them  to  tran- 
scend the  resources  of  the  empire." — MoMMSEN. 

2  "  Tiberius,  Caligula,  Claudius,  and  Nero  [were]  men  whose  names  burnt 
themselves  forever  into  the  memory  of  the  race.  All  these  men,  in  different 
ways,  illustrated  the  terrible  efficacy  of  absolute  world-dominion  to  poison  the 
character  and  even  to  unhinge  the  intellect  of  him  who  wielded  it.  Standing 
as  it  were  on  the  Mount  of  Temptation,  and  seeing  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  and  all  the  glory  of  them  stretched  at  an  immeasurable  distance  below 
their  feet,  they  were  seized  with  a  dizziness  of  soul,  and,  professing  themselves 
to  be  gods,  did  deeds  at  the  instigation  of  their  wild  hearts  and  whirling 
brains  auch  as  men  still  shudder  to  think  of."  —  Hodgkin. 


I  ■■" 


124 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


censor  made  up  the  list  of  its  members,  he  was  now  of  course  the 
source  and  fountain  of  all  patronage.  During  the  first  years  of 
his  reign,  Tiberius  used  his  practically  unrestrained  authority  with 
moderation  and  justice,  being  seemingly  desirous  of  promoting  the 
best  interests  of  all  classes  in  his  vast  empire. 


TIBERIUS. 
(From  a  Bust  in  the  Capitoline  Museum.) 

The  beginning  of  his  reign  was  marked  by  revolts  among  the 
legions,  the  most  serious  discontent  manifesting  itself  among  those 
guarding  the  Rhine,  who  wished  to  raise  to  the  throne  their  favor- 
ite  general  Germanicus,  nephew  of  Tiberius.  But  Germanicus 
sternly  refused  to  take  part  in  such  an  act  of  treachery,  reproved 
his  soldiers,  and  then  drew  their  attenimi  Itom  sudi  thoughts  of 


REIGN  OF   TIBERIUS. 


125 


disloyalty  by  leading  them  across  the  Rhine  to  recover  the  lost 
standards  of  Varus.  He  was  so  for  successful  in  this  l)old  enter- 
prise as  to  retake  the  lost  eagles  and  capture  the  wife  of  Arminius. 
But  at  this  moment,  when  (iermanicus  seemed  on  tlie  point  of 
laying  the  Roman  yoke  upon  the  tribes  of  Germany,  Tiberius, 
moved,  it  is  conjectured,  by  jealousy,^  recalled  him  from  the  Rhen- 
ish frontier,  and  sent  him  into  the  Eastern  provinces,  where  he 
soon  after  died,  having  been  poisoned,  as  was  charged,  by  an 
agent  of  the  jealous  emperor. 

Despotic  power  is  a  dangerous  possession,  likely  to  prove 
terribly  harmful  to  him  who  wields  it,  as  well  as  to  those  over 
whom  it  is  exercised.  Very  few  natures  can  withstand  the  seduc- 
tive temptations,  the  corrupting  inlluences,  of  unrestrained  and 
irresponsible  authority.-  Hence  the  long  series  of  excesses  and 
crimes  which  we  shall  now  find  making  up  a  large  part  of  the 
annals  of  the  Roman  emperors. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  intentions  with  which  Tiberius 
began  his  reign  he  soon  yielded  to  the  promjnings  of  a  naturally 
cruel,  suspicious,  and  jealous  nature,  and  entered  upon  a  course  of 
the  most  high-handed  tyranny.  He  enforced  oppressively  an  old 
law,  known  as  the  Liuif  of  Maje<itas,  which  made  it  a  capital 
offence  for  any  one  to  speak  a  careless  word,  or  even  to  entertain 


'  Other  motives  {Ioul)tless  concurred.  "They  [Aucjustus  and  Tiberius]  rec- 
ognized the  plans  j)ursued  by  tlieni  for  twenty  years  for  the  chan<,nng  of  tlie 
boundary  to  the  north  as  incapable  of  execution,  and  the  subjugation  and  mas- 
tery of  the  re^Mon  between  the  Rhine  ami  the  Kll)e  appeared  to  them  to  tran- 
icend  the  resources  of  the  empire." — Mommskx. 

2  "Tiberius,  Caligula,  Claudius,  and  Nero  [were]  men  whose  names  Imrnt 
themselves  forever  into  the  memory  of  the  race.  All  these  men,  in  different 
ways,  illustrated  the  terrible  efficacy  of  absolute  world-dominion  to  poison  the 
character  and  even  to  unhinge  the  intellect  of  jiim  who  wielded  it.  Standing 
as  it  were  on  the  Mount  of  Temptation,  and  seeing  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  and  all  the  glory  of  them  stretched  at  an  immeasurable  distance  below 
their  feet,  they  were  seized  with  a  dizziness  of  soul,  and,  professing  themselves 
to  be  gods,  did  deeds  at  the  instigation  of  their  wild  hearts  and  whirling 
brains  such  as  men  still  shudder  to  think  of"  —  Hodgkin. 


126 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


an  unfriendly  thought,  respecting  the  emperor.  "  It  was  danger- 
ous to  speak,  and  equally  dangerous  to  keep  silent,"  says  Leighton, 
"  for  silence  even  might  be  construed  into  discontent."  Rewards 
were  offered  to  informers,  and  hence  sprang  up  a  class  of  persons 
called  "  delators,"  who  acted  as  spies  upon  society.  Often  false 
charges  were  made,  to  gratify  personal  enmity ;  and  many,  espe- 
cially of  the  wealthy  class,  were  accused  and  put  to  death  that 
their  property  might  be  confiscated. 

Tiberius  appointed,  as  his  chief  minister  and  as  commander  of 
the  praetorians,  one  Sejanus,  a  man  of  the  lowest  and  most  corrupt 
|ife.  This  officer  actually  persuaded  Tiberius  to  retire  to  the 
little  island  of  Capreae,  in  the  Bay  of  Naples,  and  leave  to  him  the 
management  of  affairs  at  Rome.  The  emperor  built  several  villas 
in  different  parts  of  the  beautiful  islet,  and,  having  gathered  a 
band  of  congenial  companions,  passed  in  this  pleasant  retreat  the 
later  years  of  his  reign.  Both  Tacitus  the  historian  and  Suetonius 
the  biographer  tell  many  stories  of  the  scandalous  profligacy 
of  the  emperor's  life  on  th€  island ;  but  these  tales,  it  should  be 
added,  are  discredited  by  some. 

I  Meanwhile,  Sejanus  was  ruling  at  Rome  very  much  according 
io  his  own  will.  No  man's  life  was  safe.  He  even  grew  so  bold 
as  to  plan  the  assassination  of  the  emperor  himself.  His  designs, 
however,  became  known  to  Tiberius  j  and  the  infamous  and  dis- 
loyal minister  was  arrested  and  put  to  death. 

After  the  execution  of  his  minister,  Tiberius  ruled  more  des- 
potically than  before.  Multitudes  sought  refuge  from  his  tyranny 
in  suicide.  Death  at  last  relieved  the  worid  of  the  monster.  His 
end  was  probably  hastened  by  his  attendants,  who  are  believed 
to  have  smothered  him  in  his  bed,  as  he  lay  dying. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  that,  in  a  remote 
province  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  Saviour  was  crucified.  Ani- 
mated by  an  unparalleled  missionary  spirit,  his  followers  traversed 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  empire,  preaching  everywhere  the 
"glad  tidings."  Men's  loss  of  faith  in  the  gods  of  the  old  mythol- 
ogies, the  softening  and  liberalizing  influence  of  Greek  culture, 


REIGN  OF  CALIGULA. 


127 


I 


the  unification  of  the  whole  civiHzed  world  under  a  single  govern- 
ment, the  widespread  suffering  and  the  inexpressible  weariness 
of  the  oppressed  and  servile  classes,  —  all  these  things  had  pre- 
pared the  soil  for  the  seed  of  the  new  doctrines.  In  less  than 
three  centuries  the  Pagan  empire  had  become  Christian  not  only 
in  name,  but  also  very  largely  in  fact.  This  conversion  of  Rome 
is  one  of  the  most  important  events  in  all  history.  A  new  ele- 
ment is  here  introduced  into  civilization,  an  element  which  we 
shall  find  giving  color  and  character  to  very  much  of  the  story  of 
the  eighteen  centuries  that  we  have  yet  to  study. 

Keign  of  Caligula  (a.d.  37-41).  —  Gaius  Caesar,  better  known 
as  Caligula,  son  of  Germanicus,  was  only  twenty-five  years  of  age 
when  the  death  of  Tiberius  called  him  to  the  throne.  His  sur- 
name Caligula  was  given  him  by  the  German  legions,  because,  when 
a  little  boy,  he  was  kept  by  his  father  in  the  camp,  and  to  please 
the  men,  dressed  like  a  little  soldier  with  military  buskins  {caiigce). 

His  career  was  very  similar  to  that  of  Tiberius.  After  a  few 
months  spent  in  arduous  application  to  the  affairs  of  the  empire, 
during  which  time  his  many  acts  of  kindness  and  piety  won  for 
him  the  affections  of  all  classes,  the  mind  of  the  young  emperor 
became  unsettled.  His  rest  was  feverish  ;  and  often  he  paced  the 
halls  of  his  palace  the  night  through  with  wild  and  incoherent  rav- 
ings. He  soon  gave  himself  up  to  the  most  detestable  dissipations. 
The  cruel  sports  of  the  amphitheatre  possessed  for  him  a  strange 
fascination.  When  animals  failed,  he  ordered  spectators  to  be 
seized  indiscriminately  and  thrown  to  the  beasts.  He  even 
entered  the  lists  himself,  and  fought  as  a  gladiator  upon  the  arena. 

Stories  without  number  are  told  illustrating  his  insanities  and 
extravagances.  He  is  said  to  have  caused  persons  to  be  tortured 
at  his  banquets,  that  their  cries  and  groans  might  add  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  meal.  He  lamented  that  no  great  calamity  marked 
his  reign,  such  as  that  which  had  occurred  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius, 
when  50,000  persons  lost  their  lives  in  the  fall  of  the  great 
theatre  at  Fidenae.  In  a  sanguinary  mood,  he  wished  that  "  the 
people  of  Rome  had  but  one  neck."    He  built  a  bridge  from  his 


i 


128 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


REIGN  OF  CLAUDIUS, 


129 


palace  on  the  Palatine  to  the  temple  on  the  Capitoline  hill,  that  he 
might  be  "next  neighbor"  to  Jupiter.  In  order  to  rival  the 
Hellespontine  bridges  of  Xerxes,  he  constructed  a  bridge  over  the 
bay  at  Baiae,  The  structure  broke  beneath  the  triumphal  proces- 
sion on  the  day  of  dedication ;  and  Caligula,  delighted  with  the 
spectacle  of  the  struggling  victims,  forbade  any  one  to  attempt  to 
save  the  drowning. 

It  is  said  that  he  emulated  the  example  of  Cleopatra  by  dissolv- 
ing costly  gems  and  drinking  them  at  a  draught.  A  single  dinner 
cost  ^400,000.  As  an  insult  to  his  nobles  he  gave  out  that  he  pro- 
posed to  make  his  favorite  horse,  Incitatus,  consul,  and  frequently 
invited  the  steed  from  his  ivory  stable  to  eat  gilded  grain  at  the  im- 
perial board.  He  personated  in  turn  all  the  gods  and  goddesses, 
arraying  himself  at  one  time  as  Hercules  or  Bacchus,  and  again 
as  Juno  or  Venus.  He  declared  himself  divine,  set  up  his  statues 
for  worship,  and  even  removed  the  heads  of  Jupiter's  statues  and 
put  his  own  in  their  place. 

During  his  reign  he  set  out  on  an  expedition  against  Britain ; 
but  on  reaching  the  sea  he  set  his  soldiers  to  work  collecting 
shells  along  the  beach,  which  "  spoils  of  the  ocean  "  he  then  sent 
back  to  Rome  as  the  trophies  of  his  enterprise.  A  campaign 
against  the  Germans  ended  at  the  Rhenish  frontier  with  not  cap- 
tives enough  in  his  hands  for  a  triumph ;  accordingly,  he  hired, 
so  the  story  runs,  a  great  number  of  Gauls  to  personate  German 
prisoners,  and  thus  supplied  the  embarrassing  deficiency. 

After  four  years  the  insane  career  of  Caligula  was  brought  to 
a  close  by  some  of  the  officers  of  the  praetorian  guard  whom  he 
had  wantonly  insulted. 

Eeign  of  Claudius  (a.d.  41-54).  — The  reign  of  Claudius, 
f  aligula^s  successor,  was  signalized  by  the  conquest  of  Britain. 
Nearly  a  century  had  now  passed  since  the  invasion  of  the  island 
by  Julius  Caesar,  who,  as  has  been  seen  (see  p.  102),  simply 
made  a  reconnoissance  of  the  island  and  then  withdrew.  Claudius 
conquered  all  the  southern  portion  of  the  island,  and  founded 
many  colonies,  which  in  time  became  important  centres  of  Roman 


trade  and  culture.  The  leader  of  the  Britons  was  Caractacus. 
He  was  taken  captive  and  carried  to  Rome.  Gazing  in  astonish- 
ment upon  the  magnificence  of  the  imperial  city,  he  exclaimed, 
"How  can  people  possessed  of  such  splendor  at  home  envy 
Caractacus  his  humble  cottage  in  Britain  ?  " 

Claudius  distinguished  his  reign  by  the  execution  of  many 
important  works.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber  he  constructed  a 
magnificent  harbor,  called  the  Portus  Romanus.  The  Claudian 
Aqueduct,  which  he  completed,  was  a  stupendous  work,  bringing 
water  to  the  city  from  a  distance  of  forty-five  miles. 

The  delight  of  the  people  in  gladiatorial  shows  had  at  this  time 
become  almost  an  insane  frenzy.  Claudius  determined  to  give  an 
entertainment  that  should  render  insignificant  all  similar  efforts. 
Upon  a  large  lake,  whose  sloping  bank  afforded  seats  for  the  vast 
multitude  of  spectators,  he  exhibited  a  naval  battle,  in  which  two 
opposing  fleets,  bearing  19,000  gladiators,  fought  as  though  in 
real  battle,  till  the  water  was  filled  with  thousands  of  bodies,  and  . 
covered  with  fragments  of  the  broken  ships. 

Throughout  his  life  Claudius  was  ruled  by  intriguing  favorites 
and  unworthy  wives.  For  his  fourth  wife  he  married  the  "wicked 
Agrippina,"  who  secured  his  death  by  means  of  a  dish  of  poisoned 
mushrooms,  in  order  to  make  place  for  the  succession  of  her  son 
Nero. 

Eeign  of  Nero  (a.d.  54-68).  —  Nero  was  fortunate  in  having 
I  for  his  preceptor  the  great  philosopher  and  moralist  Seneca ;  but 
never  was  teacher  more  unfortunate  in  his  pupil.  For  five  years 
Nero,  under  the  influence  of  Seneca  and  Burrhus,  the  latter  the 
commander  of  the  praetorians,  ruled  with  moderation  and  equity. 
But  his  own  mother,  Agrippina,  intrigued  against  him  in  favor  of 
a  younger  son ;  and  Nero,  after  failing  in  an  attempt  to  drown 
her  while  she  was  crossing  the  bay  at  Baiae,  secured  her  death  by 
the  hand  of  an  assassin.  He  now  broke  away  from  the  guidance 
of  his  tutor  Seneca,  and  entered  upon  a  career  filled  with  crimes 
of  almost  incredible  enormity.  The  dagger  and  poison  were  in 
constant  demand.    The  use  of  the  latter  had  become  a  "  fine  art " 


I 


130 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE, 


in  the  hands  of  a  regular  profession.  Both  were  employed  almost 
unceasingly  to  remove  persons  that  had  incurred  his  hatred,  or  who 
possessed  wealth  that  he  coveted.  Like  Caligula,  he  degraded 
the  imperial  purple  by  contending  in  the  gladiatorial  combats  of 
the  arena  and  in  the  games  of  the  circus. 

It  was  in  the  tenth  year  of  his  reign  that  the  so-called  Great 
Fire  laid   more  than  half  of  Rome  in  ashes.    Temples,   monu- 
ments,  and  buildings  of  every  description  were  swept  away  by 
the  flames,  that  surged  like  a  sea  through  the  valleys  and  about 
the  base  of  the  hills  occupied  by  the  city.    The  people,  in  the 
dismay  of  the  moment,  were  ready  to  catch  up  any  rumor  respect- 
ing the  origin  of  the  fire.     It  was  reported  that  Nero  had  ordered 
the  conflagration  to  be  lighted,  and  that  from  the  roof  of  his  palace 
he  had  enjoyed  the  spectacle,  and  amused  himself  by  singing  a 
poem  which  he  himself  had  written,  entitled  the  "Sack  of  Troy." 
Nero  did  everything  in  his  power  to  discredit  the  rumor.     He 
went  in  person  amidst  the  sufferers,  and  distributed  money  with 
his  own   hand.     To    further   turn    attention    from   himself,   he 
accused  the  Christians  of  having  conspired  to  destroy  the  city, 
in  order  to  help  out  their  prophecies.     The  doctrine  which  was 
taught  by  some  of  the  new  sect  respecting  the  second  coming  of 
Christ,  and  the  destruction  of  the  world  by  fire,  lent  color  to  the 
charge.     The  persecution  that  followed  was  one  of  the  most  cruel 
recorded   in   the   history   of  the   Church.     Many  victims   were 
covered  with  pitch  and  burned  at  night,  to  serve  as  torches  in 
the  imperial   gardens.     Tradition  preserves  the  names  of  the 
apostles  Peter  and  Paul  as  victims  of  this   Neronian  persecu- 
tion. 

As  to  Rome,  the  conflagration  was  a  blessing  in  disguise. 
Requisitions  of  money  and  material  were  made  upon  all  the 
Roman  world  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  burnt  districts.  The  city 
rose  from  its  ashes  as  quickly  as  Athens  from  her  ruins  at  the 
close  of  the  Persian  wars.  The  new  buildings  were  made  fire- 
proof; and  the  narrow,  crooked  streets  reappeared  as  broad  and 
beautiful   avenues.     Water  was   distributed  from  the  aqueducts 


REIGN  OF  NERO. 


131 


I 


through  all  the  houses  and  grounds.  A  considerable  portion  of 
the  burnt  region  was  appropriated  by  Nero  for  the  buildings  and 
grounds  of  an  immense  palace,  called  the  "  Golden  House."  It 
covered  so  much  space  that  the  people  "  maliciously  hinted " 
that  Nero  had  fired  the  old  city  in  order  to  make  room  for  it. 

The  emperor  secured  money  for  his  enormous  expenditures  by 
new  extortions,  murders,  and  confiscations.  No  one  of  wealth 
knew  but  that  his  turn  might  come  next.  A  conspiracy  was 
formed  among  the  nobles  to  relieve  the  state  of  the  monster. 
The  plot  was  discovered,  and  again  "the  city  was  filled  with 
funerals."  I.ucan  the  poet,  and  Seneca,  the  old  preceptor  of 
Nero,  both  fell  victims  to  the  tyrant's  rage. 

Nero  now  made  a  tour  through  the  East,  and  there  plunged 
deeper  and  deeper  into  every  shame,  sensuality,  and  crime.  The 
tyranny  and  the  disgrace  were  no  longer  endurable.  Almost  at 
the  same  moment  the  legions  in  several  of  the  provinces  revolted. 
The  Senate  decreed  that  the  emperor  was  a  public  enemy,  and 
condemned  him  to  a  disgraceful  death  by  scourging,  to  avoid 
which  he  instructed  a  slave  how  to  give  him  a  fatal  thrust.  His 
last  words  were,  "  What  a  loss  my  death  will  be  to  art ! " 

Nero  was  the  sixth  and  last  of  the  Julian  line.  The  family  of 
the  Great  Caesar  was  now  extinct ;  but  the  name  remained,  and 
was  adopted  by  all  the  succeeding  emperors. 

Galba,  Otho,  and  Vitellius  (a.d.  68-69). — These  three  names 
are  usually  grouped  together,  as  their  reigns  were  all  short  and 
uneventful.  The  succession,  upon  the  death  of  Nero  and  the 
extinction  in  him  of  the  Julian  line,  was  in  dispute,  and  the 
legions  in  different  quarters  supported  the  claims  of  their  favor- 
ite leaders.  One  after  another  the  three  aspirants  named  were 
killed  in  bloody  struggles  for  the  imperial  purple.  The  last, 
Vitellius,  was  hurled  from  the  throne  by  the  soldiers  of  Vespasian, 
the  old  and  beloved  commander  of  the  legions  in  Palestine, 
which  were  at  this  time  epgaged  in  war  with  the  Jews. 

Reign  of  Vespasian  (a.d.  69-79). — The  accession  of  Flavins 
Vespasian  marks  the   beginning   of  a   period,  embracing   three 


132 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


REIGN  OF   TITUS. 


133 


reigns,  known  as  the  Flavian  Age  (a.d.  69-96).  Vespasian's 
reign  was  signalized  both  by  important  military  achievements 
abroad  and  by  stupendous  public  works  undertaken  at  Rome. 

After  one  of  the  most   harassing  sieges  recorded   in   history, 
Jerusalem  was  taken  by  Titus,  son  of  Vespasian.     The  Temple 

was  destroyed, 
and  more  than 
a  million  of 
Jews  that  were 
crowded  in  the 
city  are  believed 
to  have  perished. 
Great  multitudes 

COIN  OF  VESPASIAN.  «•        j  j        ,    , 

suffered  death  by 
crucifixion.  The  miserable  remnants  of  the  nation  were  scattered 
everywhere  over  the  world.  Josephus,  the  great  historian,  accom- 
panied the  conqueror  to  Rome.  In  imitation  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
Titus  robbed  the  Temple  of  its  sacred  utensils,  and  bore  them' 
away  as  trophies.  Upon  the  triumphal  arch  at  Rome  that  bears 
his  name  may  be  seen  at  the  present  day  the  sculptured  represen- 
tation of  the  golden  candlestick,  which  was  one  of  the  memorials 
of  the  war. 

In  the  opposite  corner  of  the  empire  a  dangerous  revolt  of  the 
Gauls  was  suppressed,  and  in  the  island  of  Britain  the  Roman 
commander  Agricola  subdued  or  crowded  back  the  native  tribes 
until  he  had  extended  the  frontiers  of  the  empire  into  what  is  now 
Scodand.  Then,  as  a  protection  against  the  incursions  of  the 
Caledonians,  the  ancestors  of  the  Scottish  Highlanders,  he  con- 
structed a  line  of  fortresses  from  the  Frith  of  Forth  to  the  Frith 
of  Clyde. 

Vespasian  rebuilt  the  Capitoline  temple,  which  had  been  burned 
during  the  struggle  between  his  soldiers  and  the  adherents  of 
Vitellius ;  he  constructed  a  new  forum  which  bore  his  own  name ; 
and  also  began  the  erection  of  the  celebrated  Flavian  amphi' 
theatre,  which  was  completed  by  his  successor.     After  a  most 


prosperous  reign  of  ten  years,  Vespasian  died  a.d.  79,  the  first 
emperor  after  Augustus  that  did  not  meet  with  a  violent  death. 
At  the  last  moment  he  requested  his  attendants  to  raise  him  upon 
his  feet  that  he  might  "die  standing,"  as  befitted  a  Roman 
emperor. 


TRIUMPHAL   PROCESSION    FROM   THE   ARCH    OF   TITUS. 
(Showmg  the  Seven-branched  Candlestick  and  Other  Troph.es  from  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.) 

Keign  of  Titus  (a.d.  79-81).  — In  a  short  reign  of  two  years 
Titus  won  the  title,  the  "Delight  of  Mankind."  He  was  un- 
wearied in  acts  of  benevolence  and  in  bestowal  of  favors.  Hav- 
ing  let  a  day  slip  by  without  some  act  of  kindness  performed, 
he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed  reproachfully,  "  I  have  lost  a  day." 

Titus  completed  and  dedicated  the  great  Flavian  amphitheatre 
begun  by  his  father,  Vespasian.  This  vast  structure,  which  accom- 
modated more  than  80,000  spectators,  is  better  known  as  the 
Colosseum  —  a  name  given  it  either  because  of  its  gigantic  pro- 
portions, or  on  account  of  a  colossal  statue  of  Nero  which  hap- 
pened to  stand  near  it. 


Ui 


132 


THE  ROMAPT  EMPIRE. 


reigns,  known  as  the  Flavian  Age  (a.d.  69-96).  Vespasian's 
reign  was  signalized  both  by  important  military  achievements 
abroad  and  by  stupendous  public  works  undertaken  at  Rome. 

After  CMC  of  the  ia«t  iafttssilig  sieges  recorded  in  history, 
Jemsalem  was  takea  fey  Titus,  son  of  Vespasian.     The  Temple' 

was  destroyed, 
and  more  than 
a  million  of 
Jews  that  were 
crowded  in  the 
city  are  believed 
to  have  perished. 
Great  multitudes 

COIN  Of  VESPASIAN.  ct         11        1    , 

suffered  death  by 
cnicifixion.  The  miserable  remMHts  of  the  nation  were  scattered 
everywhere  over  tie  worfA  Josephus,  the  great  historian,  accom- 
panied the  conciuerof  to  Rome.  In  imitation  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
Titus  robbed  the  Temple  of  its  sacred  utensils,  and  bore  theni 
away  as  trophies.  Upon  the  triumphal  arch  at  Rome  that  bears 
his  name  may  be  seen  at  the  pwscat  iajr  the  sculptured  represen- 
tation  of  the  goldca  Cildlesticl,  which  was  one  of  the  memorials 
of  the  war. 

In  the  opposite  corner  of  the  empire  a  dangerous  revolt  of  the 
Gauls  was  suppressed,  and  in  the  island  of  Britain  the  Roman 
commander  Agricola  subdued  or  ctowded  back  the  aaiire  tribes 
until  he  had  cxteaded  the  iFoatieB  of  the  empire  into  what  is  now 
Scotland.  Then,  as  a  protection  against  the  incursions  of  the 
Caledonians,  the  ancestors  of  the  Scottish  Highlanders,  he  con- 
structed a  line  of  fortresses  from  the  Frith  of  Forth  to  the  Frith 
of  Clyde. 

Vespasian  rebuilt  the  Capitoine  temple,  which  had  been  burned 
during  the  stiiggle  |elwee»  Ms  soldiers  and  the  adherents  of 
Vitellius ;  he  constmcted  a  mew  fomm  which  bore  his  own  name  ; 
and  also  began  the  erection  of  the  celebrated  Flavian  amphi- 
theatre, which  was  completed  by  his  successor.     After  a  most 


REIGN  OF   TITUS. 


133 


prosperous  reign  of  ten  years,  Vespasian  died  a.d.  79,  the  first 
emperor  after  Augustus  that  did  not  meet  with  a  violent  death. 
At  the  last  inoment  he  requested  his  attendants  to  raise  him  upon 
his  feet  that  he  might  "die  standing,"  as  befitted  a  Roman 
emperor. 


TRIUMPHAL    PROCESSION    FROM    THE    ARCH    OF   TITUS. 
(Showing  the  Seven-branched  Candlestick  and  Other  Trophies  from  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.) 

Reign  of  Titus  (a.d.  79-81).  — in  a  short  reign  of  two  years 
Titus  won  the  title,  the  "Delight  of  Mankind."  He  was  un- 
wearied in  acts  of  benevolence  and  in  bestowal  of  favors.  Hav- 
ing^ let  a  day  slip  by  without  some  act  of  kindness  performed, 
he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed  reproachfully,  "  I  have  lost  a  day." 

Titus  completed  and  dedicated  the  great  Flavian  amphitheatre 
begim  by  his  father,  Vespasian.  This  vast  structure,  which  accom- 
modated more  than  80,000  spectators,  is  better  known  as  the 
Colosseum  —  a  name  given  it  either  because  of  its  gigantic  pro- 
portions, or  on  account  of  a  colossal  statue  of  Nero  which  hap- 
pened to  stand  near  it. 


134 


THE    ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


The  reign  of  Titus,  though  so  short,  was  signaHzed  by  two  great 
disasters.  The  first  was  a  conflagration  at  Rome,  which  was  almost 
as  calamitous  as  the  Great  Fire  in  the  reign  of  Nero.  The  second 
was  the  destruction,  by  an  eruption  of  Vesuvius,  of  the  Campanian 
cities  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum.  The  cities  were  buried 
beneath  showers  of  cinders,  ashes,  and  streams  of  volcanic  mud. 
Pliny  the  Elder,  the  great  naturalist,  venturing  too  near  the  moun- 
tain to  investigate  the  phenomenon,  lost  his  life.^ 


STREET   IN   POMPEII.      (A  Reconstruction.) 

Domitian  —  Last  of  the  Twelve  Caesars  (a.d.  81-96).  —  Domi- 
tian,  the  brother  of  Titus,  was  the  last  of  the  line  of  emperors 

*  In  the  year  1713,  sixteen  centuries  after  the  destruction  of  the  cities,  the 
ruins  were  discovered  by  some  persons  engaged  in  digging  a  well,  and  since 
then  extensive*  excavations  have  been  made,  which  have  uncovered  a  large 
part  of  Pompeii,  and  revealed  to  us  the  streets,  homes,  theatres,  baths,  shops, 
temples,  and  various  monuments  of  the  ancient  city  —  all  of  which  presents  to 
us  a  very  vivid  picture  of  Roman  life  during  the  imperial  period,  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago. 


•| 


134 


THE    ROMAN  EMPIKE. 


The  reign  of  Titus,  though  so  short,  was  signahzed  by  two  great 
disasters.  The  first  was  a  conflagration  at  Rome,  which  was  ahnost 
as  calamitous  as  the  Great  Fire  in  the  reign  of  Nero.  The  second 
was  the  destruction,  by  an  eruption  of  Vesuvius,  of  the  Campanian 
cities  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum.  The  cities  were  buried 
beneath  showers  of  cinders,  ashes,  and  streams  of  volcanic  mud. 
Pliny  the  Elder,  the  great  naturalist,  venturing  too  near  the  moun- 
tain to  investigate  the  phenomenon,  lost  his  life.^ 


STREET    tN   POMPEII.       (A  Reconstruction.) 

Domitian  —  Last  of  the  Twelve  Caesars  (a.d.  81-96).  —  Domi- 
tian,  the  brother  of  Titus,  was  the  last  of  the  line  of  emperors 

1  In  the  year  17 13,  sixteen  centuries  after  the  destruction  of  the  cities,  the 
ruins  were  discovered  by  some  persons  engaged  in  digging  a  well,  and  since 
then  extensive*  excavations  have  l)een  made,  which  have  uncovered  a  large 
part  of  Pompeii,  and  revealed  to  us  the  streets,  homes,  theatres,  baths,  shops, 
temples,  and  various  monuments  of  the  ancient  city  —  all  i»f  which  ]>resents  to 
us  a  very  vivid  picture  of  Roman  life  during  the  imperial  period,  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago. 


\ 


r 

i 


THE   FIVE    GOOD   EMPERORS. 


t 


I 


0^ 


135 


known  as  "  the  Twelve  Caesars."  The  title,  however,  was  assumed 
by,  and  is  applied  to,  all  the  succeeding  emperors  :  the  sole  rea- 
son that  the  first  twelve  princes  are  grouped  together  is  because 
the  Roman  biographer  Suetonius  completed  the  lives  of  that 
number  only. 

Domitian's  reign  was  an  exact  contrast  to  that  of  his  brother 
Titus.  It  was  one  succession  of  extravagances,  tyrannies,  confis- 
cations, and  murders.  Under  this  emperor  took  place  what  is 
known  in  church  history  as  '*  the  second  persecution  of  the  Chris- 
tians.'* This  class,  as  well  as  the  Jews,  were  the  special  objects  of 
Domitian's  hatred,  because  they  refused  to  worship  the  statues  of 
himself  which  he  had  set  up. 

The  last  of  the  Twelve  Caesars  perished  in  his  own  palace,  and 
by  the  hands  of  members  of  his  own  household.  The  Senate 
ordered  his  infamous  name  to  be  erased  from  the  public  monu- 
ments, and  to  be  blotted  from  the  records  of  the  Roman  state. 

The  Five  Good  Emperors:  Beign  of  Nerva  (a.d.  96-98). — 
The  five  emperors  —  Nerva,  Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  the  two  An- 
tonines  —  that  succeeded  Domitian  were  elected  by  the  Senate, 
which  during  this  period  assumed  something  of  its  former  weight 
and  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  empire.  The  wise  and  benefi- 
cent administration  of  the  government  by  these  rulers  secured 
for  them  the  enviable  distinction  of  being  called  "  the  five  good 
emperors."  Nerva  died  after  a  short  reign  of  sixteen  months, 
and  the  sceptre  passed  into  the  stronger  hands  of  the  able  com- 
mander Trajan,  whom  Nerva  had  previously  made  his  associate  in 
the  government. 

Reign  of  Trajan  (a.d.  98-117). — Trajan  was  a  native  of  Spain, 
and  a  soldier  by  profession  and  talent.  His  ambition  to  achieve 
military  renown  led  him  to  undertake  distant  and  important  con- 
quests. It  was  the  policy  of  Augustus  —  a  policy  adopted  by 
most  of  his  successors  —  to  make  the  Danube  in  Europe  and  the 
Euphrates  in  Asia  the  limits  of  the  Roman  empire  in  those  respec- 
tive quarters.  But  Trajan  determined  to  push  the  frontiers  of  his 
dominions  beyond  both  these  rivers,  scorning  to  permit  Nature, 


1  i 


illi 


^J^ 


136 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


by  these  barriers,  to  mark  out  the  confines  of  Roman  sovereignty. 
He  crossed  the  Danube  by  means  of  a  bridge,  the  foundations 
of  which  may  still  be  seen,  and  subjugated  the  bold  and  warlike 
Dacian  tribes  lying  behind  that  stream — tribes  that  had  often 

threatened  the  peace  of  the 
empire.  After  celebrating  his 
victories  in  a  magnificent  tri- 
umph at  Rome,  Trajan  turned 
to  the  East,  led  his  legions 
across  the  Euphrates,  re- 
duced Armenia,  and  wrested 
from  the  Parthians  most  of 
the  territory  which  anciently 
formed  the  heart  of  the  As- 
syrian monarchy.  To  Tra- 
jan belongs  the  distinction 
of  extending  the  boundaries 
of  the  empire  to  the  most 
distant  points  to  which  Ro- 
man ambition  and  prowess 
were  ever  able  to  push  them. 
But  Trajan  was  something 
besides  a  soldier.  He  had 
a  taste  for  literature  :  Juve- 
nal, Plutarch,  and  the  younger 
Pliny  wrote  under  his  pat- 
ronage ;  and,  moreover,  as 
is  true  of  almost  all  great 
conquerors,  he  had  a  perfect 
passion  for  building.  Among 
the  great  works  with  which 
he  embellished  the  capital  was  the  Trajan  Forum.  Here  he 
erected  the  celebrated  marble  shaft  known  as  Trajan's  column. 
It  is  147  feet  high,  and  is  wound  from  base  to  summit  with  a 
spiral  band  of  sculptures,  containing  more  than  25,000   human 


TRAJAN. 


REIGN  OF   TRAJAN. 


137 


I 


figures.  The  column  is  nearly  as  perfect  to-day  as  when  reared 
eighteen  centuries  ago.  It  was  intended  to  commemorate  the 
Dacian  conquests  of  Trajan ;  and  its  pictured  sides  are  the  best, 
and  almost  the  only,  record  we  now  possess  of  those  wars. 

Respecting  the  rapid  spread  of  Christianity  at  this  time,  the 
character  of  the  early  professors  of  the  new  faith,  and  the  light 
in  which  they  were  viewed  by  the  rulers  of  the  Roman  world,  we 
have  very  important  evidence  in  a  certain  letter  written  by  Pliny 
the  Younger  to  the  emperor  in  regard  to  the  Christians  of  Pontus, 
in  Asia  Minor,  of  which  remote  province    Pliny  was  governor. 


BESIEGING    A    DACIAN    CITY.     (From  Trajan's  Column.) 

Pliny  speaks  of  the  new  creed  as  a  "  contagious  superstition,  that 
had  seized  not  cities  only,  but  the  lesser  towns  also,  and  the  open 
country."  Yet  he  could  find  no  fault  in  the  converts  to  the  new 
doctrines.  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  because  the  Christians 
steadily  refused  to  sacrifice  to  the  Roman  gods,  he  ordered  many 
to  be  put  to  death  for  their  "  inflexible  obstinacy." 

Trajan  died  a.d.  i  i  7,  after  a  reign  of  nineteen  years,  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  and  fortunate  that  had  yet  befallen  the  lot  of  the 
Roman  people. 

Reign  of  Hadrian  (a.d.  117- 13 8).  — Hadrian,  a  kinsman  of 
Trajan,  succeeded  him  in  the  imperial  office.  He  possessed  great 
ability,  and  displayed  admirable  moderation  and  prudence  in  the 


TM£  MOMAN  EMPIRE, 


by  these  barriers,  to  mark  out  the  confmes  of  Roman  sovereignty. 

H«  cfossecl  the  Danube  by  means  of  a  bridge,  the  foundations 
ilf  iflich  may  still  be  seen,  and  subjugated  the  bold  and  warHke 
Dacian  tribes  lying;  'feelimd  that  stream  *-tri,be«  tliat  lad,  oHen 

threatened  the  peace  of  the 
empire.  After  celebrating  his 
victories  in  a  magnificent  tri- 
umph at  Rome,  Trajan  turned 
In.  tie''  Eail|  led  his  legions 
across  ^~  Euphrates,  re- 
duced Armenia,  and  wrested 
from  the  I'arthians  most  of 
the  territory  which  anciently 
formed  the  heart  of  the  As- 
syrian monarchy.  To  Tia- 
jan  belongs  the  distinction 
of  extending  the  boundaries 
of  the  emi)ire  to  the  most 
distant  points  to  which  Ro- 
man ambition  alii  pmifcss 
were  ever  able  lopish  tliera. 
But  Trajan  was  something 
besides  a  soldier.  He  had 
a  taste  for  literature:  Juve- 
nal, I'lutarch,  and  the  younger 
Pliny  wrote  under  M%  ptt- 
ronage ;  and,  moreover,  as 
is  true  of  almost  all  great 
conquerors,  he  had  a  perfect 
passion  for  building.  Among 
the  great  woilis  with  #iich 
he  embellished  the  capital  was  the  Trajan  Fonim.  Here  he 
erected  the  celebrated  marble  shaft  known  as  Trajan^s  column. 
It  is  147  feet  Wgh,  and  is  wound  from  base  to  summit  with  a 
spiral  band:  of  scalftwes,  containing  iilOfc  tlian  25,000  human 


TRAJAN. 


REIGN  OF   TRAJAN. 


137 


i 


figures.  The  column  is  nearly  as  perfect  to-day  as  when  reared 
eighteen  centuries  ago.  It  was  intended  to  commemorate  the 
Dacian  concpiests  of  Trajan ;  and  its  pictured  sides  are  the  best, 
and  almost  the  only,  record  we  now  possess  of  those  wars. 

Respecting  the  rapid  spread  of  Christianity  at  this  time,  the 
character  of  the  early  professors  of  the  new  faith,  and  the  light 
in  which  they  were  viewed  by  the  rulers  of  the  Roman  world,  we 
have  very  important  evidence  in  a  certain  letter  written  by  Pliny 
the  Younger  to  the  emperor  in  regard  to  the  Christians  of  Pontus, 
in  Aila  Minor,  of  which  remote  province    Pliny  was   governor. 


BESIEGING    A    DACIAN    CITY.      (From  Trajan's  Column  ) 

Pliny  speaks  of  the  new  creed  as  a  "  contagious  superstition,  that 
had  seized  not  cities  only,  but  the  lesser  towns  also,  and  the  open 
country."  Yet  he  could  find  no  fault  in  the  converts  to  the  new 
doctrines.  Notwithstanding  this,  however.  l)ecause  the  Christians 
steadily  refused  to  sacrifice  to  the  Roman  gods,  he  ordered  many 
to  be  put  to  death  for  their  "  inflexible  obstinacy." 

Trajan  died  a.d.  117,  after  a  reign  of  nineteen  years,  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  and  fortunate  that  had  yet  befallen  the  lot  of  the 
Roman  people. 

Reign  of  Hadrian  (a.d.  i  17-138).  —  Hadrian,  a  kinsman  of 
Trajan,  succeeded  him  in  the  imperial  office.  He  possessed  great 
ability,  and  displayed  admirable  moderation  and  prudence  in  the 


138 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


administration  of  the  government.  He  gave  up  the  territory  con- 
quered by  Trajan  in  the  East,  and  made  the  Euphrates  once  more 
the  boundary  of  the  empire  in  that  quarter.  He  also  broke  down 
the  bridge  that  Trajan  had  built  over  the  Danube,  and  made  that 
stream  the  real  frontier  line,  notwithstanding  the  Roman  garrisons 
were  still  maintained  in  Dacia.  Hadrian  saw  plainly  that  Rome 
could  not  safely  extend  any  more  widely  the  frontiers  of  the 
empire.     Indeed,  so  active  and  threatening  were  the  enemies  of 

the  empire  in  the  East,  and  so  dar- 
ing and  numerous  had  now  become 
its  barbarian  assailants  of  the  North, 
that  there  was  reason  for  the  greatest 
anxiety  lest  they  should  break  through 
even  the  old  and  strong  lines  of  the 
Danube  and  the  Euphrates,  and  pour 
their  devastating  hordes  over  the 
provinces. 

More  than  fifteen  years  of  his  reign 
were  spent  by  Hadrian  in  making 
tours  of  inspection  through  all  the 
different  provinces  of  the  empire. 
He  visited  Britain,  and  secured  the 
Roman  possessions  there  against  the 
Picts  and  Scots  by  erecting  a  contin- 
uous wall  across  the  island.  Next 
he  journeyed  through  Gaul  and  Spain, 
and  then  visited  in  different  tours  all 
the  remaining  countries  bordering 
upon  the  Mediterranean.  He  as- 
cended the  Nile,  and,  traveller-like, 
carved  his  name  upon  the  vocal  Memnon.  The  cities  which 
he  visited  he  decorated  with  temples,  theatres,  and  other  monu- 
ments. Some  places,  however,  including  Antioch,  which  received 
their  emperor  ungraciously,  he  neglected  to  make  the  recipients 
of   his   royal    liberality.      The   atmosphere   of  Athens,  with   its 


HADRIAN. 


REIGN  OF  HADRIAN. 


139 


1 


V 


,J 


schools  and  scholars,  was  especially  congenial  to  his  inquiring 
spirit ;  and  upon  that  city  he  lavished  large  sums  in  art  adorn- 
ments until  it  almost  seemed  as  though  the  Periclean  Age  had 
returned  to  the  Attic  capital. 

In  the  year  131,  the  Jews  in  Palestine,  who  had  in  a  measure 
recovered  from  the  blow  Titus  had  given  their  nation,  broke  out 
in  desperate  revolt,  because  of  the  planting  of  a  Roman  colony 
upon  the  almost  desolate  site  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  placing  of 
the  statue  of  Jupiter  in  the  Holy  Temple.  More  than  half  a 
million  of  Jews  perished  in  the  useless  struggle,  and  the  survivors 
were  driven  into  exile  —  the  last  dispersion  of  the  race. 

The  latter  years  of  his  reign  Hadrian  passed  at  Rome.  It  was 
here  that  this  princely  builder  erected  his  most  splendid  structures. 
Among  these  was  the  Mole,  or  Mausoleum,  of  Hadrian,  an  immense 
structure  surmounted  by  a  gilded  dome,  erected  on  the  banks  of 
the  Tiber,  and  designed  as  a  tomb  for  himself  (see  p.  188). 

With  all  his  virtues,  Hadrian  was  foolishly  vain  of  his  accom- 
plishments, impatient  of  contradiction,  and  often  most  unrea- 
sonable and  imperious.  It  is  related  that  he  put  to  death  the 
architect  Apollodorus  for  venturing  to  criticise  the  royal  taste 
in  some  architectural  matter.  Favorinus,  the  rhetorician,  was 
evidently  more  judicious;  for  when  asked  "why  he  suffered 
the  emperor  to  silence  him  in  an  argument  on  a  point  of  gram- 
mar, he  replied,  *  It  is  ill  disputing  with  the  master  of  thirty 
legions.*  " 

The  Antonines  (a.d.  138-180).  —  Aurelius  Antoninus,  sumamed 
Pius,  the  adopted  son  of  Hadrian,  and  his  successor,  gave  the 
Roman  empire  an  administration  singularly  pure  and  parental. 
Of  him  it  has  been  said  that  "  he  was  the  first,  and,  saving  his 
colleague  and  successor  Aurelius,  the  only  one  of  the  emperors 
who  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of  government  with  a  single 
view  to  the  happiness  of  his  people."  Throughout  his  long  reign 
of  twenty-three  years,  the  empire  was  in  a  state  of  profound 
peace.  The  attention  of  the  historian  is  attracted  by  no  striking 
events,  which  fact,  as  many  have  not  failed  to  observe,  illustrates 


138 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


administration  of  the  government.  He  gave  up  the  territory  con- 
quered by  Trajan  ie  the  East,  and  made  the  Euphrates  once  more 
the  boundary  of  the  empire  in  that  quarter.  He  also  broke  down 
the  bridge  that  Trajan  had  built  over  the  Danube,  and  made  that 
stream  the  real  frontier  line,  potwithstanding  the  Eoman  garrisons 
were  still  maintained  in  Dacia.  Hadrian  saw  plainly  that  Rome 
could  not  safely  extend  any  more  widely  the  frontiers  of  the 
empire.     Indeed,  so  active  and  threatening  were  the  enemies  of 

the  empire  in  the  East,  and  so  dar- 
ing and  nuneioqs  had  now  become 
its  barlMttiaii  assailants  ol  the  North, 
that  there  was  reason  for  the  greatest 
anxiety  lest  they  should  break  through 
even  the  old  and  strong  lines  of  the 
Danube  and  the  Euphrates,  and  pour 
theif  liftvplfttilif'  hordes,  over  the 
provinces. 

More  than  fifteen  years  of  his  reign 
were  spent  by  Hadrian  in  making 
tours  of  inspection  through  all  the 
different  ffovlfices  of  the  empire. 
He  visited  Britain,  and  secured  the 
Roman  possessions  there  against  the 
Picts  and  Scots  by  erecting  a  contin- 
uous wall  across  the  island.  Next 
he  jonmeyed  thfoiigh  Gaul  and  Spain, 
and  then  visited  in  different  tours  all 
the  remaining  countries  bordering 
upon  the  Mediterranean.  He  as- 
cended the  Nile,  and,  traveller-like, 
carved  his  name  upon  the  vocal  Memnon.  The  cities  which 
he  visited  Ie"  •itecoiatei^  wi:ft^  Icrtlptes,  theatres,  and  other  monu- 
ments. Some  place%  liowever,  including  Antioch,  which  received 
their  emperor  ungraciously,  he  neglected  to  make  the  recipients 
of   his  royal    liberality.      The   atmosphere   of  Athens,  with   its 


HADRIAN. 


REIGN  OF  HADRIAN 


139 


'■'»' 


schools  and  scholars,  was  especially  congenial  to  his  inquiring 
spirit ;  and  upon  that  city  he  lavished  large  sums  in  art  adorn- 
ments until  it  almost  seemed  as  though  the  Periclean  Age  had 
returned  to  the  Attic  capital. 

In  the  year  131,  the  Jews  in  Palestine,  who  had  in  a  measure 
recovered  from  the  blow  Titus  had  given  their  nation,  broke  out 
in  desperate  revolt,  because  of  the  planting  of  a  Roman  colony 
upon  the  almost  desolate  site  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  placing  of 
tiie  statue  of  Jupiter  in  the  Holy  Temple.  More  than  half  a 
million  of  Jews  perished  in  the  useless  struggle,  and  the  survivors 
were  driven  into  exile  —  the  last  dispersion  of  the  race. 

The  latter  years  of  his  reign  Hadrian  passed  at  Rome.  It  was 
here  that  this  princely  builder  erected  his  most  splendid  structures. 
Among  these  was  the  Mole,  or  Mausoleum,  of  Hadrian,  an  immense 
structure  surmounted  by  a  gilded  dome,  erected  on  the  banks  of 
the  Tiber,  and  designed  as  a  tomb  for  himself  (see  p.  188). 

With  all  his  virtues,  Hadrian  was  foolishly  vain  of  his  accom- 
plishments, impatient  of  contradiction,  and  often  most  unrea- 
sonable and  imperious.  It  is  related  that  he  put  to  death  the 
architect  Apollodorus  for  venturing  to  criticise  the  royal  taste 
in  some  architectural  matter.  Favorinus,  the  rhetorician,  was 
evidently  more  judicious;  for  when  asked  "why  he  suffered 
the  emperor  to  silence  him  in  an  argument  on  a  point  of  gram- 
mar, he  replied,  'It  is  ill  disputing  with  the  master  of  thirty 
legions.'  " 

The  Antonines  (a.d.  138-180).  —  Aurelius  Antoninus,  surnamed 
Pius,  the  adopted  son  of  Hadrian,  and  his  successor,  gave  the 
Roman  empire  an  administration  singularly  pure  and  parental. 
Of  him  it  has  been  said  that  "■  he  was  the  first,  and,  saving  his 
colleague  and  successor  AureHus,  the  only  one  of  the  emperors 
who  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of  government  with  a  single 
view  to  the  happiness  of  his  people."  Throughout  his  long  reign 
of  twenty-three  years,  the  empire  was  in  a  state  of  profound 
peace.  The  attention  of  the  historian  is  attracted  by  no  striking 
events,  which  fact,  as  many  have  not  foiled  to  observe,  illustrates 


140 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


admirably  the  oft-repeated  maxim,  "  Happy  is  that  people  whose 
annals  are  brief." 

Antoninus,  early  in  his  reign,  united  with  himself  in  the  govern- 
ment his  adopted  son  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  upon  the  death  of  the 
former  (a.d.  i6i)  the  latter  succeeded  quietly  to  his  place  and 
work.  His  studious  habits  won  for  him  the  title  of  "  Philosopher." 
He  belonged  to  the  school  of  the  Stoics,  and  was  a  most  thoughtful 
writer.  His  Meditations  breathe  the  tenderest  sentiments  of  devo- 
tion and  benevolence,  and  make  the  nearest  approach  to  the  spirit 
of  Christianity  of  all  the  writings  of  Pagan  antiquity.  He  estab- 
lished an  institution  or  home  for  orphan  girls ;  and,  finding  the 
poorer   classes   throughout   Italy   burdened   by   their   taxes   and 

greatly  in  arrears  in  paying  them,  he 
caused  all  the  tax-claims  to  be  heaped 
in  the  Forum  and  burned. 

The  tastes  and  sympathies  of  Aure- 
lius would  have  led  him  to  choose  a 
life  passed  in  retirement  and  study  at 
the  capital ;  but  hostile  movements  of 
the  Parthians,  and  especially  invasions 
of  the  barbarians  along  the  Rhenish 
and  Danubian  frontiers,  called  him 
from  his  books,  and  forced  him  to 
spend  most  of  the  latter  years  of  his 
reign  in  the  camp.  The  Parthians,  who  had  violated  their  treaty 
with  Rome,  were  chastised  by  the  lieutenants  of  the  emperor, 
and  Mesopotamia  again  fell  under  Roman  authority. 

This  war  drew  after  it  a  series  of  terrible  calamities.  The 
returning  soldiers  brought  with  them  the  Asiatic  plague,  which 
swept  off  vast  numbers,  especially  in  Italy,  where  entire  cities  and 
districts  were  depopulated.  In  the  general  distress  and  panic,  the 
superstitious  people  were  led  to  believe  that  it  was  the  new  sect 
of  Christians  that  had  called  down  upon  the  nation  the  anger  of 
the  gods.     Aurelius  permitted  a  fearful  persecution  to  be  instituted 


ANTONINUS   PIUS. 
(From  a  Coin  in  the  Berlin  Museum.) 


THE  ANTONINES. 


HI 


against  them,  during  which  the  celebrated  Christian  fathers  and 
bishops,  Justin  Martyr  and  Polycarp,  suffered  death. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  persecution  of  the  Christians  under 
the  Pagan  emperors  sprung  from  political  rather  than  religious  mo- 
tives, and  that  this  is  why  we  find  the  names  of  the  best  emperors, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  worst,  in  the  list  of  persecutors.  It  was 
believed  that  the  welfare  of  the  state  was  bound  up  with  the  care- 
ful performance  of  the  rites  of  the  national  worship ;  and  hence, 
while  the  Roman  rulers  were  usually  very  tolerant,  allowing  all 
forms  of  worship  among  their  subjects,  still  they  required  that  men 
of  every  faith  should  at  least  recognize  the  Roman  gods,  and  burn 
incense  before  their  statues.  This  the  Christians  steadily  refused 
to  do.  Their  neglect  of  the  service  of  the  temple,  it  was  believed, 
angered  the  gods,  and  endangered  the  safety  of  the  state,  bringing 
upon  it  drought,  pestilence,  and  every  disaster.  This  was  the 
main  reason  of  their  persecution  by  the  Pagan  emperors. 

But  pestilence  and  persecution  were  both  forgotten  amidst  the 
imperative  calls  for  immediate  help  that  now  came  from  the  North. 
The  barbarians  were  pushing  in  the  Roman  outposts,  and  pouring 
impetuously  over  the  frontiers.  To  the  panic  of  the  plague  was 
added  this  new  terror.  Aurelius  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  his 
legions,  and  hurried  beyond  the  Alps.  For  many  years,  amidst 
the  snows  of  winter  and  the  heats  of  summer,  he  strove  to  beat 
back  the  assailants  of  the  empire. 

Once  his  army  was  completely  surrounded,  and  his  soldiers 
were  dying  of  thirst,  when  a  violent  thunder-storm  not  only 
relieved  their  sufferings,  but  also  struck  such  terror  into  the  bar- 
barians as  to  scatter  them  in  flight.  The  Romans  thought  that 
Jupiter  Tonans  had  interfered  in  their  behalf;  but  the  Christians 
that  made  up  the  twelfth  legion  maintained  that  God  had  sent  the 
rain  in  answer  to  their  prayers.  The  Christians,  it  is  said  by  some, 
received  the  title  of  the  "  Thundering  Legion  " ;  while  upon  the 

Column  of  Aurelius  at  Rome  —  where  it  may  still  be  seen was 

carved  the  scene  in  which  Olympian  Jove  the  Thunderer  is  repre- 
sented "  raining  and  lightening  out  of  heaven." 


140 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


admirably  the  oft-repeated  maxim,  "  Happy  is  that  people  whose 
annals  are  brief." 

Antoninus,  early  in  Ws  icign,  united  with  himself  in  the  govern- 
ment his  adopted  son  Mjticns  Aurelius,  and  upon  the  death  of  the 
former  (a.d.  i6i)  tic  latter  succeeded  quietly  to  his  place  and 
work.  His  studious  habits  won  for  him  the  title  of"  I'hilosopher." 
He  belonged  to  the  school  of  the  Stoics,  and  was  a  most  thoughtful 
writer.  H  is  Meditations  breathe  the  tenderest  sentiments  of  devo- 
tion and  benevolence,  and  male  the  neawsst  approacli  to  the  spirit 
of  Christianity  of  all  tlie  wiitings  of  lapn  antiquity.  He  estab- 
lished an  institution  or  home  for  orphan  girls ;  and,  finding  the 
poorer   classes   throughout   Italy   burdened   lif  their   taxes   and 

greatly  in  arrears  iii  paying  them,  he 
caused  all  the  tax<laiiiis  to  be  heaped 
in  the  Fonim  and  burned. 

The  tastes  and  sympathies  of  Aure- 
lius would  have  led  him  to  choose  a 
life  passed  in  retirement  and  study  at 
the  capital;  bttt  hostile  movements  of 
the  Parthians,  ani  especially  invasions 
of  the  barbarians  along  the  Rhenish 
and  Danubian  frontiers,  called  him 
fiOBi  his  books,  and  forced  him  to 
spend  most  of  the  latter  years  of  his 
reign  in  lie  camp.  The  Parthian%  wto  liad  viobted  their  treaty 
with  Rome,  were  eliastised  by  llie  lientenants  of  the  emperor, 
and  Mesopotamia  again  fell  under  Roman  authority. 

This  war  drew  after  it  a  series  of  terrible  calamities.  The 
returning  soldiers  brought  with  them  the  Asiatic  plague,  which 
swept  off  vast  numbers,  especially  in  Italy,  where  entire  cities  and 
districts  were  depopulated.  In  the  feiiera}  distress  and  panic,  the 
superstitious  people  were  led  to  believe  that  it  was  the  new  sect 
of  Christians  that  had  called  down  upon  the  nation  the  anger  of 
the  gods.     Aurelius  permitted  a  fearful  persecution  to  be  instituted 


ANTONINUS    PIUS. 
(From  a  Coin  in  the  Berlin  Museum.) 


THE  ANTONINES. 


141 


against  them,  during  which  the  celebrated  Christian  fathers  and 
bishops,  Justin  Martyr  and  Polycarp,  suffered  death. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  persecution  of  the  Christians  under 
the  Pagan  emperors  sprung  from  political  rather  than  religious  mo- 
tives, and  that  this  is  why  we  find  the  names  of  the  best  emperors, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  worst,  in  the  list  of  persecutors.  It  was 
beheved  that  the  welfare  of  the  state  was  bound  up  with  the  care- 
iil  performance  of  the  rites  of  the  national  worship ;  and  hence, 
while  the  Roman  rulers  were  usually  very  tolerant,  allowing  all 
forms  of  worship  among  their  subjects,  still  they  required  that  men 
of  every  faith  should  at  least  recognize  the  Roman  gods,  and  burn 
incense  before  their  statues.  This  the  Christians  steadily  refused 
to  do.  Their  neglect  of  the  sen'ice  of  the  temple,  it  was  believed, 
angered  the  gods,  and  endangered  the  safety  of  the  state,  bringing 
upon  it  drought,  pestilence,  and  every  disaster.  This  was  the 
main  reason  of  their  persecution  by  the  Pagan  emperors. 

But  pestilence  and  persecution  were  both  forgotten  amidst  the 
imperative  calls  for  immediate  help  that  now  came  from  the  North. 
The  barbarians  were  pushing  in  the  Roman  outposts,  and  pouring 
impetuously  over  the  frontiers.  To  the  panic  of  the  plague  was 
added  this  new  terror.  Aurelius  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  his 
legions,  and  hurried  beyond  the  Alps.  For  many  years,  amidst 
the  snows  of  winter  and  the  heats  of  summer,  he  strove  to  beat 
back  the  assailants  of  the  empire. 

Once  his  army  was  completely  surrounded,  and  his  soldiers 
were  dying  of  thirst,  when  a  violent  thunder-storm  not  only 
relieved  their  sufferings,  but  also  struck  such  terror  into  the  bar- 
barians as  to  scatter  them  in  flight.  The  Romans  thought  that 
Jupiter  Tonans  had  interfered  in  their  behalf;  but  tlie  Christians 
that  made  up  the  twelfth  legion  maintained  that  Cod  had  sent  the 
rain  in  answer  to  their  prayers.  The  Christians,  it  is  said  by  some, 
received  the  title  of  the  '*  Thundering  Legion  " ;  while  upon  the 
Column  of  Aurelius  at  Rome  — where  it  may  still  be  seen  — was 
carved  the  scene  in  which  Olympian  Jove  the  Thunderer  is  repre- 
sented "raining  and  lightening  out  of  heaven." 


142 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE, 


\ 


The  efforts  of  the  devoted  Aurelius  checked  the  inroads  of  the 
barbarians ;  but  he  could  not  subdue  them,  so  weakened  was  the 
empire  by  the  ravages  of  the  pestilence,  and  so  exhausted  was  the 
treasury  from  the  heavy  and  constant  drains  upon  it.  At  last  his 
weak  body  gave  way  beneath  the  hardships  of  his  numerous  cam- 
paigns, and  he  died  in  his  camp  at  Vindobona  (now  Vienna),  in 
the  nineteenth  year  of  his  reign  (a.d.  i8o). 

The  united  voice  of  the  Senate  and  people  pronounced  him  a 
god,  and  divine  worship  was  accorded  to  his  statue.  Never  was 
Monarchy  so  justified  of  her  children  as  in  the  lives  and  works  of 
the  Antonines.  As  Merivale,  in  dwelling  upon  their  virtues,  very 
justly  remarks,  "  the  blameless  career  of  these  illustrious  princes 
has  furnished  the  best  excuse  for  Csesarism  in  all  after-ages." 


ROMAN   EMPERORS  FROM  AUGUSTUS  TO   MARCUS  AURELIUS. 

(From  31  B.C.  to  a.d.  180.) 


Augustus  reigns    .     31  B.C.  to 

A.D.  14 

Tiberius A.i 

D.  14-37 

Caligula 

37-41 

Claudius 

41-54 

Nero 

54-68 

Galba 

68-69 

Otho 

69 

Vitellius 

69 

Vespasian 

69-79 

Tlt'llQ 

A.D.    79-81 

Domitian   .     .     . 

.      .        81-96 

"Mprva              .       '.       . 

.      .        96-98 

Traian         ... 

.    .    98-1 1 7 

Hadrian     .... 

.  1 17-138 

Antoninus  Pius  . 

.    .  138-161 

/  Marcus  Aurelius  . 

•         < 

.  161-180 

)  Verus  associated  with  Au- 

\      relius      .     .     . 

« 

.     .  161-169 

The  first  eleven,  in  connection  with  Julius  Csesar,  are  called  the  Twelve 
Gesars.  The  last  five  (excluding  Verus)  are  known  as  the  Five  Good 
Emperors. 


143 


ROME 


UNDER  THE  EMPIRE 

SCALE  OF  VARDS 
0        m       500 


I. 

Colosseum. 

15. 

2. 

Arch  of  Constantine. 

16. 

3- 

Arch  of  Titus. 

17- 

4- 

Via  Sacra. 

18. 

5- 

Via  Nova. 

19. 

6. 

Vicus  Tuscus. 

20. 

7- 

Vious  Jugarius. 

21. 

8. 

Arch  of  Septimius  Severus. 

22. 

9- 

Qivus  Capitolinus. 

23- 

10. 

Temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus. 

24. 

II. 

Arch. 

25- 

12. 

Column  of  Trajan. 

26. 

13- 

Column  of  Antonine. 

27- 

14. 

Baths  of  Agrippa. 

28. 

Pantheon. 

Theatre  of  Pompey. 
Portico  of  Pompey. 
Circus  Flaminius. 
Theatre  of  Marcellus. 
Forum  Holitorium. 
Forum  Boarium. 
Mausoleum  of  Augustus. 
Mausoleum  of  Hadrian. 
Baths  of  Constantine. 
Baths  of  Diocletian. 
Baths  of  Titus. 
Baths  of  Caracalla. 
Amphitheatrum  Castrense. 


144 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    ROMAN   EMPIRE  (a.d.    180-476):    PAGANISM    AND    CHRIS- 
TIANITY;  THE   BARBARIAN   INVASIONS. 

(a.d.  180-476.) 

Beign  of  Commodus  (a.d.  180-192).— Under  the  wise  and  able 
administration  of  "the  five  good  emperors "  — Nerva,  Trajan, 
Hadrian,  and  the  two  Antonines — the  Roman  empire  reached 
its  culmination  in  power  and  prosperity;  and  now,  under  the 
enfeebUng  influences  of  vice  and  corruption  within,  and  the  heavy 

blows  of  the  barbarians 
without,  it  begins  to  decline 
rapidly  to  its  fall. 

Commodus,  son  of  Mar- 
cus Aurelius,  and  the  last 
of  the  Antonines,  was  a 
most  unworthy  successor 
of  his  illustrious  father. 
For  three  years,  however, 
surrounded  by  the  able 
renerals  and  wise  counsel- 
lors  that  the  prudent  ad- 
ministration of  the  preced- 
ing emperors  had  drawn 
to  the  head  of  affairs, 
Commodus  ruled  with 
COMMODUS  (as  Hercules}.  faimess  and  lenity,  when 

an  unsuccessful  conspiracy  against  his  life  seemed  suddenly  to 
kindle  all  the  slumbering  passions  of  a  Nero.  He  secured  the 
favor  of  the  rabble  with  the  shows  of  the  amphitheatre,  and 
purchased  the  support  of  the  praetorians  with  bribes  and  flat- 


^'THE  BARRACK  EMPEROR ^r 


145 


teries.  Thus  he  was  enabled  for  ten  years  to  retain  the  throne, 
while  perpetrating  all  manner  of  cruelties,  and  staining  the  impe- 
rial purple  with  the  most  detestable  debaucheries  and  crimes. 

Commodus  had  a  passion  for  gladiatorial  combats,  and  attired 
in  a  lion's  skin,  and  armed  with  the  club  of  Hercules,  he  valiantly 
set  upon  and  slew  antagonists  arrayed  to  represent  mythological 
monsters,  and  armed  with  great  sponges  for  rocks.  The  Senate, 
so  obsequiously  servile  had  that 
body  become,  conferred  upon 
him  the  title  of  the  Roman  Her- 
cules, and  also  voted  him  the 
additional  surnames  of  Pius  and 
Felix,  and  even  proposed  to 
change  the  name  of  Rome  and 
call  it  Colonia  Commodiana. 

The  empire  was  finally  re- 
lieved of  the  insane  tyrant  by 
some  members  of  the  royal 
household,  who  anticipated  his 
designs  against  themselves  by 
putting  him  to  death. 

"The  Barrack  Emperors."  — 
For  nearly  a  century  after  the 
death  of  Commodus  (from  a.d. 
192  to  284),  the  emperors  were 
elected  by  the  army,  and  hence  the  rulers  for  this  period  have 
been  called  "the  Barrack  Emperors."  The  character  of  the 
period  is  revealed  by  the  fact  that  of  the  twenty-five  emperors 
who  mounted  the  throne  during  this  time,  all  except  four  came  to 
their  deaths  by  violence.  "  Civil  war,  pestilence,  bankruptcy, 
were  all  brooding  over  the  empire.  The  soldiers  had  forgotten 
how  to  fight,  the  rulers  how  to  govern."  On  every  side  the 
barbarians  were  breaking  into  the  empire  to  rob,  to  murder,  and 
to  burn. 


PR/ETORIANS. 


144 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE, 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    ROMAN  EMPIRE  (a.b.   180-476):    PAGANISM   AND   CIIKIS- 
TIANIW;  THE  BARBARIAN  INVASIONS. 

(A.0.   180-476.) 

Reign  of  Commodus  (a.d.  180-192).— Under  the  wise  and  able 
administration  of  "the  five  good  emperors "  — Nerva,  Trajan, 
Hadrian,  and  the  two  Antonines— the  Roman  empire  reached 
its  cuhnination in  power  and  prosperity;  and  now,  under  the 
enfeeWing  influences  of  vice  and  corruptidii  within,  and  the  heavy 

blows  of  tie  kirbarians 
without,  it  begins  to  dechne 
rapidly  to  its  foil. 

Commodus,  son  of  Mar- 
cus Aurelius,  and  the  last 
of  the  Antonines,  was  a 
most  unworthy  successor 
of  his  illustrious  father. 
For  three  years,  however, 
surrounded  by  the  able 
i^enerals  and  wise  counsel- 
lors that  the  prudent  ad- 
ministration of  the  preced- 
ing emperors  had  drawn 
to  the  head  of  affairs, 
Commodus  ruled  with 
COMMODUS  (as  Hercules.  faimcss  and  Icuity,  whcn 

an  unsuccessful  conspiracy  against  his  life  seemed  suddenly  to 
kindle  all  the  slumbering  passions  of  a  Kcio.  He  secured  the 
favor  of  the  rabble  with  the  shows  of  the  amphitheatre,  and 

purchased'  the  siiliport'  of  tie  pnetorians  with  bribes  and  flat- 


**THE   BARRACK  EMPERORS: 


145 


teries.  Thus  he  was  enabled  for  ten  years  to  retain  the  throne, 
while  perpetrating  all  manner  of  cruelties,  and  staining  the  impe- 
rial purple  with  the  most  detestable  debaucheries  and  crimes. 

Commodus  had  a  passion  for  gladiatorial  combats,  and  attired 
in  a  lion*s  skin,  and  armed  with  the  club  of  Hercules,  he  valiantly 
set  upon  and  slew  antagonists  arrayed  to  represent  mythological 
monsters,  and  armed  with  great  sponges  for  rocks.  The  Senate, 
so  obsequiously  ser\'ile  had  that 
body  become,  conferred  upon 
him  the  title  of  the  Roman  Her- 
cules, and  also  voted  him  the 
additional  surnames  of  Pius  and 
Felix,  and  even  proposed  to 
change  the  name  of  Rome  and 
call  it  Colonia  Commodiana. 

The  empire  was  finally  re- 
lieved of  the  insane  tyrant  by 
some  members  of  the  royal 
household,  who  anticipated  his 
designs  against  themselves  by 
putting  him  to  death. 

"The  Barrack  Emperors."  — 
For  nearly  a  century  after  the 
death  of  Commodus  (from  a.d. 
192  to  284),  the  emperors  were 
elected  by  the  army,  and  hence  the  rulers  for  this  period  have 
been  called  "  the  Barrack  Emperors."  The  character  of  the 
period  is  revealed  by  the  foct  that  of  the  twenty-five  emperors 
who  mounted  the  throne  during  this  time,  all  except  four  came  to 
their  deaths  by  violence.  "  Civil  war,  pestilence,  bankruptcy, 
were  all  brooding  over  the  empire.  The  soldiers  had  forgotten 
how  to  fight,  the  rulers  how  to  govern."  On  every  side  the 
barbarians  were  breaking  into  the  empire  to  rob,  to  murder,  and 
to  burn. 


PR/CTORIANS. 


146 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE, 


I 


The  Public  Sale  of  the  Empire  (a.d.  193).  —  The  beginning 
of  these  troublous  times  was  marked  by  a  shameful  proceeding  on 
the  part  of  the  praetorians.  Upon  the  death  of  Commodus,  Per- 
tinax,  a  distinguished  senator,  was  placed  on  the  throne ;  but  his 
efforts  to  enforce  discipline  among  the  praetorians  aroused  their 
anger,  and  he  was  slain  by  them  after  a  short  reign  of  only  three 
months.  These  soldiers  then  gave  out  notice  that  they  would  sell 
the  empire  to  the  highest  bidder.  It  was  accordingly  set  up  for 
sale  at  the  praetorian  camp,  and  struck  off  to  Didius  Julianus,  a 
wealthy  senator,  who  gave  ;^iooo  to  each  of  the  12,000  soldiers 
at  this  time  composing  the  guard.  So  the  price  of  the  empire 
was  about  ^12,000,000. 

But  these  turbulent  and  insolent  soldiers  at  the  capital  of  the 
empire  were  not  to  have  things  entirely  their  own  way.  As  soon 
as  the  news  of  the  disgraceful  transaction  reached  the  legions  on 
the  frontiers,  they  rose  as  a  single  man  in  indignant  revolt.  Each 
of  the  three  armies  that  held  the  Euphrates,  the  Rhine,  and  the 
Danube,  proclaimed  its  favorite  commander  emperor.  The  leader 
of  the  Danubian  troops  was  Septimius  Severus,  a  man  of  great 
energy  and  force  of  character.  He  knew  that  there  were  other 
competitors  for  the  throne,  and  that  the  prize  would  be  his  who 
first  seized  it.  Instantly  he  set  his  veterans  in  motion  and  was 
soon  at  Rome.  The  praetorians  were  no  match  for  the  trained 
legionaries  of  the  frontiers,  and  did  not  even  attempt  to  defend 
their  emperor,  who  was  taken  prisoner  and  put  to  death  after  a 
reign  of  sixty-five  days. 

Reign  of  Septimius  Severus  (a.d.  193-21  i).  —  One  of  the  first 
acts  of  Severus  was  to  organize  a  new  body-guard  of  50,000 
legionaries,  to  take  the  place  of  the  unworthy  praetorians,  whom, 
as  a  punishment  for  the  insult  they  had  offered  to  the  Roman 
state,  he  disbanded,  and  banished  from  the  capital,  and  forbade 
to  approach  within  a  hundred  miles  of  its  walls.  He  next  crushed 
his  two  rival  competitors,  and  was  then  undisputed  master  of  the 
empire.  He  put  to  death  forty  senators  for  having  favored  his 
late  rivals,  and  completely  destroyed  the  power  of  that   body. 


REIGN  OF  CARACALLA, 


147 


Committing  to  the  prefect  of  the  new  praetorian  guard  the  man- 
agement of  affairs  at  the  capital,  Severus  passed  the  greater  part 
of  his  long  and  prosperous  reign  upon  the  frontiers.  At  one  time 
he  was  chastising  the  Parthians  beyond  the  Euphrates,  and  at 
another,  pushing  back  the  Caledonian  tribes  from  the  Hadrian 
wall  in  the  opposite  corner  of  his  dominions.  Finally,  in  Britain, 
in  his  camp  at  York,  death  overtook  him. 

Reign  of  Caracalla  (a.d.  211-217).  — Severus  conferred  the 
empire  upon  his  two  sons,  Caracalla  and  Geta.     Caracalla  mur- 
dered his  brother,  and   then   ordered   Papinian,  the   celebrated 
jurist,  to  make  a  public  argument  in  vindication  of  the  fratricide. 
When  that  great  lawyer  refused,  saying  that  '*  it  was  easier  to  com- 
mit such  a  crime 
than    to  justify 
it,"  he  put  him 
to  death.  Thou- 
sands   fell   vic- 
tims   to     his 
senseless     rage. 
Driven    by    re- 
morse and  fear, 
he  fled  from  the 
capital,     and 
wandered  about 
the  most  distant 
provinces.      A  t 
Alexandria,    on 
account  of  some 

uncomplimentary  remarks  by  the  citizens  upon  his  appearance, 
he  ordered  a  general  massacre.  Finally,  after  a  reign  of  six  years, 
the  monster  was  slain  in  a  remote  corner  of  Syria. 

Caracalla's  sole  political  act  of  real  importance  was  the  be- 
stowal of  citizenship  upon  all  the  free  inhabitants  of  the  empire ; 
and  this  he  did,  not  to  give  them  a  just  privilege,  but  that  he  might 
CQllect  from  them  certain  special  taxes  which  only  Roman  citizens 


CARACALLA. 


148 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE, 


THE   THIRTY   TYRANTS, 


149 


had  to  pay.  Before  the  reign  of  Caracalla  it  was  only  particular 
classes  of  subjects,  or  the  inhabitants  of  some  particular  city  or 
province,  that,  as  a  mark  of  special  favor,  had,  from  time  to  time, 
been  admitted  to  the  rights  of  citizenship  (see  pp.  85-87).  By 
this  wholesale  act  of  Caracalla,  the  entire  population  of  the  empire 
was  made  Roman,  at  least  in  name  and  nominal  privilege.  "  The 
city  had  become  the  world,  or,  viewed  from  the  other  side,  the 
world  had  become  the  city  "  (Merivale). 

Reign  of  Elagabalus  (a.d.  218-222).  —  Upon  the  death  of 
Caracalla,  the  purple  was  assumed  by  Macrinus,  the  officer  who 
had  instigated  the  murder  of  the  emperor.  He  remained  in  the 
East,  where  the  severity  of  his  discipline  caused  the  soldiers  who 
had  raised  him  to  power  to  revolt.  The  garrison  at  Emesa  set  up 
as  emperor  Elagabalus,  a  beautiful  boy  who  in  that  place  officiated 
as  high  priest  in  the  temple  of  the  Syrian  sun-god,  and  whom  the 
soldiers  were  led  to  believe  was  the  son  of  the  murdered  Caracalla. 
The  legions  that  adhered  to  Macrinus  were  quickly  crushed,  and 
he  himself  was  slain. 

So  un- Roman  had  the  Romans  become  that  this  Oriental 
priest,  thus  thrust  forward  by  the  Syrian  legions,  was  at  once 
recognized  at  Rome  by  both  Senate  and  people  as  their  emperor. 
He  carried  to  Italy  all  his  Eastern  notions  and  manners,  and  there 
entered  upon  a  short  reign  of  four  years,  characterized  by  all 
those  extravagances  and  cmel  follies  that  are  so  apt  to  mark  the 
rule  of  an  Asiatic  despot.  His  palace  was  the  scene  of  the  most 
profligate  dissipation.  He  even  created  a  senate  of  women 
whose  duty  it  was  to  attend  to  matters  of  dress,  calls,  amuse- 
ments, and  etiquette. 

The  praetorians,  at  length  tiring  of  their  priest-emperor,  put 
him  to  death,  threw  his  body  into  the  Tiber,  and  set  up  in  his 
place  Alexander  Severus,  a  kinsman  of  the  murdered  prince. 

Reign  of  Alexander  Severus  (a.d.  222-235).  —  Severus  restored 
the  virtues  of  the  Age  of  the  Antonines.  His  administration  was 
pure  and  energetic ;  but  he  strove  in  vain  to  resist  the  corrupt 
and  downward  tendencies  of  the  times.     He  was  assassinated, 


after  a  reign  of  fourteen  years,  by  his  seditious  soldiers,  who  were 
angered  by  his  efforts  to  reduce  them  to  discipline.  They  invested 
with  the  imperial  purple  an  obscure  officer  named  Maximin,  a 
Thracian  peasant,  whose  sole  recommendation  for  this  dignity  was 
his  gigantic  stature  and  his  great  strength  of  limbs.  Ronxe  had 
now  sunk  to  the  lowest  possible  degradation.  We  may  pass  rap- 
idly over  the  next  fifty  years  of  the  empire. 
The  Thirty  Tyrants  (a.d.  251-268).  — Maximin  was  followed 
I  swiftly  by  Gordian,  Philip,  and  Decius,  and  then  came  what  is 


TRIUMPH   OF  SAPOR   OVER   VALERIAN. 

called  the  "Age  of  the  Thirty  Tyrants."  The  imperial  sceptre 
being  held  by  weak  emperors,  there  sprung  up,  in  every  part  of 
the  empire,  competitors  for  the  throne  —  several  rivals  frequently 
appearing  in  the  field  at  the  same  time.  The  barbarians  pressed 
upon  all  the  frontiers,  and  thrust  themselves  into  all  the  provinces. 
The  empire  seemed  on  the  point  of  falling  to  pieces.^     But  a 

1  It  was  during  this  period  that  the  Emperor  Valerian  (a.d.  253-260),  in  a 
battle  with  the  Persians  before  Edessa,  in  Mesopotamia,  was  defeated  and 
taken  prisoner  by  Sapor,  the  Persian  king.  A  large  rock  tablet  (see  cut 
above),  still  to  be  seen  near  the  Persian  town  of  Shiraz,  is  believed  to  com- 
memorate the  triumph  of  Sapor  over  the  unfortunate  emperor. 


148 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


had  to  pay.  BcfofC  tic  reign  of  Caiaicalk  it  was  only  particular 
classes  of  subjects,  or  the  inhabitants  of  some  particular  city  or 
province,  that,  as  a  mark  of  special  favor,  had,  from  time  to  time, 
been  admitted  to  the  rights  of  citizenship  (see  pp.  85-87).  By 
this  wholesale  act  of  Caracalla,  the  entire  population  of  the  empire 
was  made  Redman,  at  least  in  name  apd  nominal  privilege.  "  The 
city  had  become  the  world,  or,  viewed  from  the  other  side,  the 
world  had  become  the  city  "  (Merivale). 

Reign  of  Elagabalus  (a.d.  218-222).  —  Upon  the  death  of 
Caracalla,  the  purple  was  assumed  by  Macrinus,  the  officer  who 
had  instigated  the  miipicr  <A  tic  empefor.  He  remained  in  the 
East,  where  tlie  stvcritf  ef  iii  discipline  caused  the  soldiers  who 
had  raised  him  to  power  to  revolt.  The  garrison  at  Emesa  set  up 
as  emperor  Elagabalus,  a  beautiful  boy  who  in  that  place  officiated 
as  high  priest  in  the  temple  of  the  Syrian  sun-god,  and  whom  the 
soldiers  were  led  to  believe  was  the  soa  of  the  murdered  Caracalla. 
The  legions  that  adhefed...li>^"  Macrimis  ife«:  ipictty  cicislied,  and 
he  himself  was  slain. 

So  un- Roman  had  the  Romans  become  that  this  Oriental 
priest,  thus  thrust  forward  by  the  Syrian  legions,  was  at  once 
recognized  at  Rome  by  both  Senate  and  people  as  their  emi)eror. 
He  carried,  W  liafy  all  his  Eastclil,.  letions..  .and,,  manners,  and  there 
entered  upoii  » "■short  reign  rf"iiwr  yeatt,,.  cliaractemed,,  by  all 
those  extravagances  and  cmel  follies  that  afc  so  apt  to  mark  the 
rule  of  an  Asiatic  despot  His  palace  was  the  scene  of  the  most 
profligate  dissipation.  He  even  created  a  senate  of  women 
whose  duty  it  was  to  attend  to  matters  of  dress,  calls,  amuse- 
ments, and  etiqiiette*. 

The  pnetorians,  at  length  tiring  of  their  piiest-emperor,  put 
him  to  death,  threw  lis  body  into  tie  Tiber,  and  set  up  in  his 
place  Alexander  Severus,  a  kinsman  of  the  murdered  i)rince. 

Reign  of  Alexander  Severus  (a.©.  212-835).— -Severus  restored 
the  virtues  uf  the  Age  of  the  Aiitonincs.  His  administration  was 
pure  and  energetic;  lot  he  strove  in  vain  to  resist  the  corrupt 
and  downward  tendencies  of  the  times.     He  was  assassinated, 


THE   THIRTY   TYRANTS, 


149 


after  a  reign  of  fourteen  years,  by  his  seditious  soldiers,  who  were 
angered  by  his  efforts  to  reduce  them  to  discipline.  They  invested 
with  the  imperial  purple  an  obscure  officer  named  Maximin,  a 
Thracian  peasant,  whose  sole  recommendation  for  this  dignity  was 
his  gigantic  stature  and  his  great  strength  of  limbs.  Rom.e  had 
now  sunk  to  the  lowest  possible  degradation.  We  may  pass  rap- 
idly over  the  next  fifty  years  of  the  empire. 

The  Thirty  Tyrants  (a.d.  251-268).  — Maximin  was  followed 
swiftly  by  Gordian,  Philip,  and  Decius,  and  then  came  what  is 


TRIUMPH    OF   SAPOR   OVER    VALERIAN. 

called  the  "Age  of  the  Thirty  Tyrants."  The  imperial  sceptre 
being  held  by  weak  emperors,  there  sprung  up,  in  every  part  of 
the  empire,  competitors  for  the  throne  —  several  rivals  frequently 
appearing  in  the  field  at  the  same  time.  The  barbarians  pressed 
upon  all  the  frontiers,  and  thrust  themselves  into  all  the  provinces. 
The  empire  seemed  on  the  point  of  falHng  to  pieces.^     But  a 

*  It  was  during  this  period  that  the  Emperor  Valerian  (a.d.  253-260),  in  a 
battle  with  the  Persians  before  Kdessa,  in  Mesopotamia,  was  defeated  and 
taken  prisoner  by  Sapor,  the  Persian  king.  A  large  roek  tablet  (see  cut 
above),  still  to  be  seen  near  the  Persian  town  of  Shiraz,  is  believed  to  com- 
memorate the  triumph  of  Sapor  over  the  unfortunate  emperor. 


150 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE, 


fortunate  succession  of  five  good  emperors  —  Claudius,  Aurelian, 
Tacitus,  Probus,  and  Cams  (a.d.  268-284)  restored  for  a  time 
the  ancient  boundaries  and  again  forced  together  into  some  sort 
of  union  the  fragments  of  the  shattered  state. 

The  Fall  of  Palmyra  (a.d.  273). — The  most  noted  of  the 
usurpers  of  authority  in  the  provinces  during  the  period  of  anarchy 
of  which  we  have  spoken  was  Odenatus,  Prince  of  Palmyra,  a  city 
occupying  an  oasis  in  the  midst  of  the  Syrian  Desert,  midway 
between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Euphrates.  In  gratitude  for 
the  aid  he  had  rendered  the  Romans  against  the  Parthians,  the 
Senate  had  bestowed  upon  him  titles  and  honors.  When  the 
empire  began  to  show  signs  of  weakness  and  approaching  disso- 
lution, Odenatus  conceived  the  ambitious  project  of  erecting  upon 
its  ruins  in  the  East  a  great  Palmyrian  kingdom.  Upon  his  death, 
/  his  wife,  Zenobia,  succeeded  to  his  authority  and  to  his  ambitions. 
This  famous  princess  claimed  descent  from  Cleopatra,  and  it  is 
certain  that  in  the  charms  of  personal  beauty  she  was  the  rival  of 
the  Egyptian  queen.  Boldly  assuming  the  title  of  "Queen  of 
the  East,"  she  bade  defiance  to  the  emperors  of  Rome.  Aurelian 
marched  against  her,  and,  defeating  her  armies  in  the  open  field, 
drove  them  within  the  walls  of  Palmyra.  After  a  long  siege  the 
city  was  taken,  and,  in  punishment  for  a  second  uprising,  given  to 
the  flames.  The  adviser  of  the  queen,  the  celebrated  rhetorician 
Longinus,  was  put  to  death  ;  but  Zenobia  was  spared,  and  carried 
a  captive  to  Rome.  After  having  been  led  in  golden  chains  in 
the  triumphal  procession  of  Aurelian,  the  queen  was  given  a 
beautiful  villa  in  the  vicinity  of  Tibur,  where,  surrounded  by  her 
children,  she  passed  the  remainder  of  her  checkered  life.^ 

The  ruins  of  Palmyra  are  among  the  most  interesting  remains 
of  Roman  or  Grecian  civilization  in  the  East.  For  a  long  time 
the  site  even  of  the  city  was  lost  to  the  civilized  world.  The 
Bedouins,  however,  knew  the  spot,  and  told  strange  stories  of  a 
ruined  city  with  splendid  temples  and  long  colonnades  far  away 


1  Read  Ware's  Zenobia  and  Aurelian. 


REIGN  OF  DIOCLETIAN. 


151 


in  the  Syrian  Desert.  Their  accounts  awakened  an  interest  in  the 
wonderful  city,  and  towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century 
some  explorers  reached  the  spot.  The  sketches  they  brought 
back  of  the  ruins  of  the  long-lost  city  produced  almost  as  much 
astonishment  as  did  the  discoveries  afterwards  of  Botta  and  Layard 
at  Nineveh.  Hadrian,  the  Antonines,  and  other  Roman  emperors 
aided  the  ambitious  Palmyrians  in  the  architectural  adornment  of 
their  capital.  The  principal  features  of  the  ruins  are  the  remains 
of  the  great  Temple  of  the  Sun,  and  of  the  colonnade,  which  was 
almost  a  mile  in  length.  Many  of  the  marble  columns  that  flanked 
this  magnificent  avenue  are  still  erect,  stretching  in  a  long  line 
over  the  desert. 

Keign  of  Diocletian  (a.d.  284-305).  —  The  reign  of  Diocletian 
marks  an  important  era  in  Roman  history.  Up  to  this  time  the 
imperial  government  had  been  more 
or  less  carefully  concealed  under 
the  forms  and  names  of  the  old 
republic.  The  government  now 
became  an  unveiled  and  absolute 
monarchy.  Diocletian's  r  e  f o  r  m  s , 
though  radical,  were  salutary,  and 
infused  such  fresh  vitality  into  the 
frame  of  the  dying  state  as  to  give 
it  a  new  lease  of  life  for  another  term 
of  nearly  two  hundred  years. 

He  determined  to  divide  the  nu- 
merous and  increasing  cares  of  the 
distracted  empire,  so  that  it  might 
be  ruled  from  two  centres  —  one  in 
the  East  and  the  other  in  the  West. 
In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  he  chose  as  a  colleague  a  companion 
soldier,  Maximian,  upon  whom  he  conferred  the  title  of  Augustus. 
After  a  few  years,  finding  the  cares  of  the  co-sovereignty  still  too 
heavy,  each  sovereign  associated  with  himself  an  assistant,  who 
took  the  title  of  Caesar,  and  was  considered  the  son  and  heir  of  the 


DIOCLETIAN. 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


iirtiiliftle  saccesBMH  of  five  good  emperors  —  Claudius,  Aurelian, 
Tacitus,  Probus,  and  Carus  (a.d.  268-284)  restored  for  a  time 
tlic  ancient  boundaries  and  again  forced  together  into  some  sort 
of  union  the  fragments  of  the  shattered  state. 

The  Fall  of  Palmyra  pA  t||)w  —  The  most  noted  of  the 
usurpers  of  authority  in  tit  provinces  during  the  period  of  anarchy 
0f  which  we  have  spoken  was  Odenatus,  Prince  of  Palmyra,  a  city 
occupying  an  oasis  in  the  midst  of  the  Syrian  Desert,  midway 
between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Euphrates.  In  gratitude  for 
the  aid  he  had  rendered  the  Roinaas  against  the  Parthians,  the 
Senate  had  bestowed  ilpoit  lltt  titles  and  honors.  When  the 
empire  began  to  show  signs  of  weakness  and  approaching  disso- 
lution, Odenatus  conceived  the  ambitious  project  of  erecting  upon 
its  ruins  in  the  East  a  great  Palmyrian  kingdom.  Upon  his  death, 
his  wife,  Zenobia,  succeeded  to  his  authority  and  to  his  ambitions. 
This  famous  princess  claimed  descent  from  Cleopatra,  and  it  is 
certain  that  in  the  charms  of  personal  beauty  she  was  the  rival  of 
the  Egyptian  queen.  Boldly  assuming  the  title  of  "  Queen  of 
the  East,"  she  bade  defiance  to  the  emperors  of  Rome.  Aurelian 
marched  against  her,  and,  defeating  her  armies  in  the  open  field, 
drove  them  within  the  walls  of  Palmyra.  After  a  long  siege  the 
city  was  taken,  and,  in  punishment  for  a  second  uprising,  given  to 
the  flames.  The  adviser  of  the  queen,  the  celebrated  rhetorician 
Longinus,  was  put  to  death ;  but  Zenobia  was  spared,  and  carried 
a  captive  to  Rome.  Afler  having  been  led  in  golden  chains  in 
the  triumphal  procession  iff  Aurelian,  the  queen  was  given  a 
beautiful  villa  in  the  vicinity  of  Tibur,  where,  surrounded  by  her 
children,  she  passed  the  remainder  of  her  checkered  life.^ 

The  ruins  of  Palmyra  are  among  the  most  interesting  remains 
of  Roman  or  Grecian  civilization  in  the  East.  For  a  long  time 
the  site  even  of  the  city  was  lost  to  the  civilized  world.  The 
Bedouins,  however,  knew  the  spot,  m8.  told  strange  stories  <lf  a 
ruined  city  with  splendid  temples  and  long  colonnades  far  away 

^  Read  Ware's  Zenobia  and  Aurelian, 


REIGN  OF  DIOCLETIAN. 


151 


^       ■       , 


in  the  Syrian  Desert.  Their  accounts  awakened  an  interest  in  the 
wonderful  city,  and  towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century 
some  explorers  reached  the  spot.  The  sketches  they  brought 
back  of  the  ruins  of  the  long-lost  city  produced  almost  as  much 
astonishment  as  did  the  discoveries  afterwards  of  Botta  and  Layard 
at  Nineveh.  Hadrian,  the  Antonines,  and  other  Roman  emperors 
aided  the  ambitious  Palmyrians  in  the  architectural  adornment  of 
their  capital.  The  principal  features  of  the  ruins  are  the  remains 
of  the  great  Temple  of  the  Sun,  and  of  the  colonnade,  which  was 
almost  a  mile  in  length.  Many  of  the  marble  columns  that  flanked 
this  magnificent  avenue  are  still  erect,  stretching  in  a  long  line 
over  the  desert. 

Reign  of  Biocletian  (a.d.  284-305). — ^The  reign  of  Diocletian 
marks  an  important  era  in  Roman  historw  Up  to  this  time  the 
imperial  go\  ernment  had  been  more 
or  leK  carefully  concealed  under 
the  forms  and  names  of  the  old 
republic.  The  government  now 
became  an  unveiled  and  absolute 
monarchy.  Diocletian's  reforms, 
though  radical,  were  salutary,  and 
infused  such  fresh  vitality  into  the 
frame  of  the  dying  state  as  to  give 
it  a  new  lease  of  life  for  another  term 
of  nearly  two  hundred  years. 

He  determined  to  divide  the  nu- 
merous and  increasing  cares  of  the 
distracted  empire,  so  that  it  might 
be  ruled  from  two  centres  —  one  in 
the  r^ast  and  the  other  in  the  West. 
In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  he  chose  as  a  colleague  a  companion 
soldier,  Maxiniian,  upon  whom  he  conferred  the  title  of  Augustus. 
After  9  few  years,  finding  the  cares  of  the  co-sovereignty  still  too 
heavy,  each  sovereign  associated  with  himself  an  assistant,  who 
took  the  title  of  Caesar,  and  was  considered  the  son  and  heir  of  the 


DIOCLETIAN. 


152 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


emperor.  There  were  thus  two  Augusti  and  two  Csesars.  Milan, 
in  Italy,  became  the  capital  and  residence  of  Maximian  ;  while  Nic- 
omedia,  in  Asia  Minor,  became  the  seat  of  the  court  of  Diocletian. 
The  Augusti  took  charge  of  the  countries  near  their  respective  capi- 
tals, while  the  younger  and  more  active  Caesars  were  assigned  the 
government  of  the  more  distant  and  turbulent  provinces.  The 
vigorous  administration  of  the  government  in  every  quarter  of  the 
empire  was  thus  secured.  The  authority  of  each  of  the  rulers  was 
supreme  within  the  territory  allotted  him ;  but  all  acknowledged 
Diocletian  as  "  the  father  and  head  of  the  state." 

The  most  serious  drawback  to  the  system  of  government  thus 
instituted  was  the  heavy  expense  incident  to  the  maintenance  of 
four  courts  with  their  trains  of  officers  and  dependents.  The  taxes 
became  unendurable,  husbandry  ceased,  and  large  masses  of  the 
population  were  reduced  almost  to  starvation. 

While  the  changes  made  in  the  government  have  rendered  the 
name  of  Diocletian  noted  in  the  political  history  of  the  Roman 
state,  the  cruel  persecutions  which  he  ordered  against  the  Chris- 
tians have  made  his  name  in  an  equal  degree  prominent  in  ecclesi- 
astical annals ;  for  it  was  during  this  reign  that  the  tenth  —  the 
last  and  severest  —  of  the  persecutions  of  the  Church  took  place. 
By  an  imperial  decree  the  churches  of  the  Christians  were  ordered 
to  be  torn  down,  and  they  themselves  were  outlawed.  For  ten 
years  the  fugitives  were  hunted  in  forest  and  cave.  The  victims 
were  burned,  were  cast  to  the  wild  beasts  in  the  amphitheatre, 
were  put  to  death  by  every  torture  and  in  every  mode  that  inge- 
nious cruelty  could  devise.  But  nothing  could  shake  the  constancy 
of  their  faith.  They  courted  the  death  that  secured  them,  as  they 
firmly  believed,  immediate  entrance  upon  an  existence  of  unending 
happiness.  The  exhibition  of  devotion  and  constancy  shown  by 
the  martyrs  won  multitudes  to  the  persecuted  faith. 

It  was  during  this  and  the  various  other  persecutions  that  vexed 
the  Church  in  the  second  and  third  centuries  that  the  Christians 
sought  refuge  in  the  Catacombs,  those  vast  subterranean  galleries 
and  chambers  under  the  city  of  Rome.    Here  the  Christians  hope- 


REIGN  OF  DIOCLETIAN, 


153 


CHRIST   AS   THE   GOOD   SHEPHERD. 
(From  the  Catacombs.) 


fully  buried  their  dead,  and  on  the  walls  of  the  chambers  sketched 
rude  symbols  of  their  love  and  faith.     It  was  in  the  darkness  of 
these  subterranean  abodes  that 
Christian  art  had  its  beginnings. 

After  a  prosperous  reign  of 
twenty  years,  becoming  weary 
of  the  cares  of  state,  Diocletian 
abdicated  the  throne,  and  forced 
or  induced  his  colleague  Max- 
imian also  to  lay  down  his  au- 
thority on  the  same  day.  Gale- 
rius  and  Constantius  were,  by 
this  act,  advanced  to  the  purple 
and  made  Augusti ;  and  two  new 
associates  were  appointed  as 
Caesars.  Diocletian,  having  en- 
joyed the  extreme  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  imperial  authority 
quietly  and  successfully  transmitted  by  his  system,  without  the  dic- 
tation of  the  insolent  praetorians  or  the  interference  of  the  turbulent 
legionaries,  now  retired  to  his  country-seat  at  Salona,  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Adriatic,  and  there  devoted  himself  to  rural  pursuits. 
It  is  related  that,  when  Maximian  wrote  him  urging  him  to  en- 
deavor, with  him,  to  regain  the  power  they  had  laid  aside,  he 
replied :  "  Were  you  but  to  come  to  Salona  and  see  the  vegeta- 
bles which  I  raise  in  my  garden  with  my  own  hands,  you  would 
no  longer  talk  to  me  of  empire." 

Eeign  of  Constantine  the  Great  (a.d.  306-337);  the  Empire 
becomes  Christian.  —  Galerius  and  Constantius  had  reigned  to- 
gether only  one  year,  when  the  latter  died  at  York,  in  Britain ; 
and  his  soldiers,  disregarding  the  rule  of  succession  as  determined 
by  the  system  of  Diocletian,  proclaimed  his  son  Constantine  em- 
peror. Six  competitors  for  the  throne  arose  in  different  quarters. 
For  eighteen  years  Constantine  fought  to  gain  supremacy.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  every  rival  was  crushed,  and  he  was  the  sole  ruler 
of  the  Roman  world. 


154 


THE   ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


Constantine  was  the  first  Christian  emperor.  He  was  con- 
verted to  the  new  religion  —  such  is  the  story  —  by  seeing  in  the 
heavens,  during  one  of  his  campaigns  against  his  rivals,  a  luminous 
cross  with  this  inscription :  "  In  this  sign  you  will  conquer."  ^ 
He  made  the  cross  the  royal  standard ;  and  the  Roman  legions 
now  for  the  first  time  marched  beneath  the  emblem  of  Christi- 
anitv.' 

By  a  decree  issued  from  Milan,  a.d.  313,  Christianity  was  made 
in  effect  the  state  religion ;  but  all  other  forms  of  worship  were 
tolerated.  With  the  view  of  harmonizing  the  different  sects  that 
had  sprung  up  among  the  Christians,  and  to  settle  the  controversy 
between  the  Arians  and  the  Athanasians  respecting  the  nature  of 
Christ,  —  the  former  denied  his  equality  with  God  the  Father,  — 
Constantine  called  the  first  OCcumenical,  or  General  Council  of  the 
Church,  at  Nicaea,  a  town  of  Asia  Minor,  a.d.  325.  Arianism  was 
denounced,  and  a  formula  of  Christian  faith  adopted,  which  is 
known  as  the  Nicene  Creed. 

After  the  recognition  of  Christianity,  the  most  important  act  of 
Constantine  was  the  selection  of  Byzantium,  on  the  Bosphorus,  as 
the  new  capital  of  the  empire.  One  reason  which  led  the  em- 
peror to  choose  this  site  in  preference  to  Rome  was  the  ungra- 
cious conduct  towards  him  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  latter  city, 
because  he  had  abandoned  the  worship  of  the  old  national  deities. 
But  there  were  political  reasons  for  such  a  change.  Through  the 
Eastern  conquests  of  Rome,  the  centre  of  the  population,  wealth, 
and  culture  of  the  empire  had  shifted  eastward.  The  West  — 
Gaul,  Britain,  Spain  —  was  rude  and  barbarous ;  the  East  — 
Egypt,  Syria,  Asia  Minor  —  was  the  abode  of  ancient  civilizations 
from  which  Rome  was  proud  to  trace  her  origin.  Constantine 
was  not  the  first  to  entertain  the  idea  of  seeking  in  the  East  a 


i 


^  In  Latin,  In  hoc  signo  vinces. 

*  The  new  standard  was  called  the  Labarum  (from  the  Celtic  i(jvar,  mean- 
ing command).  It  consisted  of  a  banner  inscribed  with  the  Greek  letters  XP, 
the  first  being  a  symbol  of  the  Cross,  and  both  forming  a  monogram  of  the 
word  Christ.    The  letters  are  the  initials  of  the  Greek  Christos. 


REIGN  OF  CONSTANTINE    THE   GREAT. 


155 


new  centre  for  the  Roman  world.  The  Italians  were  inflamed 
against  the  first  Caesar  by  the  report  that  he  intended  to  restore 
Ilium,  the  cradle  of  the  Roman  race,  and  make  that  the  capital 
of  the  empire. 

Constantine  organized  at  Byzantium  a  new  Senate,  while  that  at 
Rome  sank  to  the  obscure  position  of  the  council  of  a  provincial 
municipality.  Multitudes  eagerly  thronged  to  the  new  capital, 
and  almost  in  a  night  the  little  colony  grew  into  an  imperial  city. 
In  honor  of  the  emperor  its  name  was  changed  to  Constantinople, 
the  "  City  of  Constantine."  Hereafter  the  eyes  of  the  world  were 
directed  towards  the  Bosphorus  instead  of  the  Tiber. 

To  aid  in  the  administration  of  the  government,  Constantine 
laid  out  the  empire  into  four  great  divisions,  called,  prefectures 
(see  map),  which  were  subdivided  into  thirteen  dioceses,  and 
these  again  into  one  hundred  and  sixteen  provinces. 

The  character  of  Constantine  has  been  greatly  eulogized  by 
Christian  writers,  while  Pagan  historians  very  naturally  painted  it 
in  dark  colors.  It  is  probable  that  he  embraced  Christianity,  not 
entirely  from  conviction,  but  partly  from  poHtical  motives.  As 
the  historian  Hodgkin  puts  it,  "  He  was  half  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  Christianity,  and  wholly  convinced  of  the  policy  of  em- 
bracing it."  If  his  course  was  dictated  by  considerations  of 
policy,  events  justified  his  forecast ;  for  it  was  the  enthusiasm  of 
his  Christian  legions,  wrought  to  an  intense  fervor  by  the  sight 
of  the  new  emblem,  that  gave  to  Constantine  his  victory  over 
his  last  rival  on  the  field  of  Adrianople. 

In  any  event,  Constantine's  religion  was  a  strange  mixture  of  the 
old  and  the  new  faith :  on  his  medals  the  Christian  cross  is  held 
by  the  pagan  deity  Victory.  In  his  domestic  relations  he  was 
tyrannical  and  cruel.  He  put  to  death  his  son  Crispus  for  no 
better  reason,  it  is  believed,  than  that  he  was  jealous  of  his  rising 
fame ;  his  wife  he  ordered  to  be  smothered  in  the  bath ;  he  killed 
his  sister,  and  drove  his  mother  to  death  with  grief  and  despair. 
He  died  in  the  thirty-first  year  of  his  reign,  leaving  his  kingdom 
to  his  three  sons,  Constans,  Constantius,  and  Constantine. 


156 


THE   ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


Reign  of  Julian  the  Apostate  (a.d.  361-363).  — The  parcel- 
ling out  of  the  empire  by  Constantine  among  his  sons  led  to 
strife  and  wars,  which,  at  the  end  of  sixteen  years,  left  Constan- 
tius  master  of  the  whole.  He  reigned  as  sole  emperor  for  about 
eight  years,  engaged  in  ceaseless  warfare  with  German  tribes  in 
the  West  and  with  the  Persians  ^  in  the  East.  Constantius  was 
followed  by  his  cousin  Julian,  who  was  killed  while  in  pursuit  of 
the  troops  of  Sapor,  king  of  the  Persians  (a.d.  363). 

Julian  is  called  the  Apostate  because  he  abandoned  Christianity 
and  labored  to  restore  the  Pagan  faith.  In  his  persecution  of 
the  Christians,  however,  he  could  not  resort  to  the  old  means— 
"  the  sword,  the  fire,  the  lions  " ;  for,  under  the  softening  influ- 
ences of  the  very  faith  he  sought  to  extirpate,  the  Roman  world 
had  already  learned  a  gentleness  and  humanity  that  rendered 
impossible  the  renewal  of  the  Neronian  and  Diocletian  persecu- 
tions. Julian's  weapons  were  sophistry  and  ridicule,  in  the  use 
of  which  he  was  a  master.  To  degrade  the  Christians,  and  place 
them  at  a  disadvantage  in  controversy,  he  excluded  them  from 
the  schools  of  logic  and  rhetoric. 

Furthermore,  to  cast  discredit  upon  the  predictions  of  the 
Scriptures,  Julian  determined  to  rebuild  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem, 
which  the  Christians  contended  could  not  be  restored  because  of 
the  prophecies  against  it.  He  actually  began  excavations,  but  his 
workmen  were  driven  in  great  panic  from  the  spot  by  terrific 
explosions  and  bursts  of  flame.  The  Christians  regarded  the 
occurrence  as  miraculous ;  and  Julian  himself,  it  is  certain,  was  so 
dismayed  by  it  that  he  desisted  from  the  undertaking.^ 

1  The  great  Parthian  empire,  which  had  been  such  a  formidable  antagonist 
of  Rome,  was,  after  an  existence  of  five  centuries,  overthrown  by  a  revolt  of 
the  Persians  (a.d.  226),  and  the  New  Persian  or  Sassanian  monarchy  estab- 
lished.  This  empire  lasted  till  the  country  was  overrun  by  the  Saracens  in  the 
seventh  century  a.d. 

2  The  explosions  which  so  terrified  the  workmen  of  Julian  are  supposed  to 
have  been  caused  by  accumulations  of  gases  ~  similar  to  those  that  so  fre- 
quently occasion  accidents  in  mines  — in  the  subterranean  chambers  of  the 
Temple  foundations. 


MOVEMENTS   OF  THE   BARBARIANS, 


157 


It  was  m  vam  that  the  apostate  emperor  labored  to  uproot  the 
new  faith;  for  the  purity  of  its  teachings,  the  universal  and  eternal 
character  of  Us  moral  precepts,  had  given  it  a  name  to  live 
Equally  m  vam  were  his  efforts  to  restore  the  worship  of  the  old 
Grecian  and  Roman  divinities.  Polytheism  was  a  transitional  form 
of  religious  belief  which  the  world  had  now  outgrown :  great  Pan 
was  deaa. 

The  disabilities  under  whicii  Julian  had  placed  the  Christians 
were  removed  by  his  successor  Jovian  (a.d.  363-364),  and  the 
Christian  worship  was  re-established 

Valentinian  and  Valens.- Upon  the  death  of  Jovian,  Valen- 
mian,  the  commander  of  the  imperial  guard,  was  elected  emperor 
by  a  council  of  the  generals  of  the  army  and  the  ministers  of  the 
court.  He  appointed  his  brother  Valens  as  his  associate  in  office 
and  assigned  to  him  the  Eastern  provinces,  while  reserving  fo; 
himself  the  Western  He  set  up  his  own  court  at  Milan,  while  his 
brother  established  his  residence  at  Constantinople. 

The  Movements  of  the  Barbarians.  -  The  reigns  of  Valen- 
inian  and  Valens  were  signalized  by  threatening  movements  of 
he  barbarian  tribes,  that  now,  almost  at  the  same  moment,  began 
to  press  with  redoubled  energy  against  all  the  barriers  of  the  em- 
pire.    TheAlemanni  (Germans)  crossed  the  Rhine  -  sometimes 
swarming  over  the  river  on  the  winter's  ice -and,  before  pursuit 
could  be  made,  escaped  with  their  booty  into  the  depths  of  the 
German  forests.     The  Saxons,  pirates  of  the  northern  seas,  who 
.ssued  from  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  ravaged  the  coasts  of  Gaul  and 
Britain,  even  pushing  their  light  skiffs  far  up  the  rivers  and  creeks 
of  those  countries,  and  carrying  spoils  from  the  inland  cities.     In 
Britain,  the  Picts  broke  through  the  Hadrian  Wall,  and  wrested 
almost  the  entire  island  from  the  hands  of  the  Romans.    In  Africa 
the  Moorish  and  other  tribes,  issuing  from  the  ravines  of  the  Atlas 
Mountains  and  swarming  from  the  deserts  of  the  south,  threatened 
to  obliterate  the  last  trace  of  Roman  civilization  occupying  the 
narrow  belt  of  fertile  territory  skirting  the  sea.  1-^6      = 

The  barbarian  tide  of  invasion  seemed  thus  on  the  point  of 


158 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


overwhelming  the  empire  in  the  West ;  but  for  twelve  years  Val- 
entinian  defended  with  signal  ability  and  energy  not  only  his  own 
territories,  but  aided  with  arms  and  counsel  his  weaker  brother 
Valens  in  the  defence  of  his.  Upon  the  death  of  Valentinian,  his 
son  Gratian  succeeded  to  his  authority  (a.d.  375). 

The  Goths  cross  the  Danube.  — The  year  following  the  death 
of  Valentinian,  an  event  of  the  greatest  importance  occurred  in 
the  East.  The  Visigoths  (Western  Goths)  dwelling  north  of  the 
Lower  Danube,  who  had  often  in  hostile  bands  crossed  that  river 
to  war  against  the  Roman  emperors,  now  appeared  as  suppHants 
in  vast  multitudes  upon  its  banks.  They  said  that  a  terrible  race, 
whom  they  were  powerless  to  withstand,  had  invaded  their  terri- 
tories, and  spared  neither  their  homes  nor  their  lives.  They 
begged  permission  of  the  Romans  to  cross  the  river  and  settle  in 
Thrace,  and  promised,  should  this  request  be  granted,  ever  to 
remain  the  grateful  and  firm  allies  of  the  Roman  state. 

Valens  consented  to  grant  their  petition  on  condition  that  they 
should  surrender  their  arms,  give  up  their  children  as  hostages, 
and  all  be  baptized  in  the  Christian  faith. '  Their  terror  and  de- 
spair led  them  to  assent  to  these  conditions.  So  the  entire  nation, 
numbering  1,000,000  souls,  —  counting  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren,—were  allowed  to  cross  the  river.  Several  days  and  nights 
were  consumed  in  the  transport  of  the  vast  multitudes.  The 
writers  of  the  times  liken  the  passage  to  that  of  the  Hellespont 
by  the  hosts  of  Xerxes. 

The  enemy  that  had  so  terrified  the  Goths  were  the  Huns,  a 
monstrous  race  of  fierce  nomadic  horsemen,  that  two  centuries 
and  more  before  the  Christian  era  were  roving  the  deserts  north  of 
the  Great  Wall  of  China.^  Migrating  from  that  region,  they  moved 
slowly  to  the  West,  across  the  great  plains  of  Central  Asia,  and, 

>  It  is  somewhat  doubtful  whether  this  last  condition  was  really  a  part  of 

the  agreement. 

2  A  great  rampart  extending  for  about  fifteen  hundred  miles  along  the 
northern  frontier  of  China.  It  was  built  by  the  Chinese  towards  the  end  of  the 
third  century  B.c.  as  a  barrier  against  the  forays  of  the  Huns. 


THE    GOTHS   CROSS   THE  DANUBE. 


159 


after  wandering  several  centuries,  appeared  in  Europe.  They 
belonged  to  a  different  race  (the  Turanian)  from  all  the  other 
European  tribes  with  which  we  have  been  so  far  concerned 
Their  features  were  hideous,  their  noses  being  flattened,  and  their 
cheeks  gashed,  to  render  their  appearance  more  frightful  as  well 
as  to  prevent  the  growth  of  a  beard.  Even  the  barbarous  Goths 
called  them  "barbarians." 

Scarcely  had  the  fugitive  Vifigoths  been  received  within  the 
limits  of  the  empire  before  a  large  company  of  their  kinsmen  the 
Ostrogoths  (Eastern  Goths),  also  driven  from  their  homes  by 
the  same  terrible  Huns,  crowded  to  the  banks  of  the  Danube  and 
pleaded  that  they  might  be  allowed,  as  their  countrymen'  had 
been,  to  place  the  river  between  themselves  and  their  dreaded 
enemies.  But  Valens,  becoming  alarmed  at  the  presence  of  so 
many  barbarians  within  his  dominions,  refused  their  request- 
whereupon  they,  dreading  the  fierce  and  implacable  foe  behind 
more  than  the  wrath  of  the  Roman  emperor  in  front,  crossed  the 
river  with  arms  in  their  hands. 

It  now  came  to  light  that  the  cupidity  of  the  Roman  officials 
had  prevented  the  carrying  out  of  the  stipulations  of  the  agreement 
between  the  emperor  and  the  Visigoths  respecting  the  relinquish- 
ment of  their  arms.     The  barbarians  had  bribed  those  intrusted 
with  the  duty  of  transporting  them  across  the  river,  and  purchased 
the   privilege   of  retaining   their   weapons.      The   persons,   too 
detailed   to   provide  the  multitude  with  food  till  they  cou'ld  be 
assigned  lands,  traded  on  the  hunger  of  their  wards,  and  doled 
out  the  vilest   provisions  at  the  most  extortionate  prices      (We 
seem  here  to  be  listening  to  a  recital  of  the  unscrupulous  conduct 
of  Indian  agents  of  our  own  frontiers.) 

As  was  natural,  the  injured  nation  rose  in  indignant  revolt 
Joining  their  kinsmen  that  were  just  now  forcing  the  passage  of 
the  Danube,  they  commenced,  under  the  lead  of  the  great  Friti- 
gem,  to  overrun  and  ravage  the  Danubian  provinces.  Valens 
despatched  swift  messengers  to  Gratian  in  the  West,  asking  for 
assistance  against  the  foe  he  had  so  unfortunately  admitted  within 


160 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


the  limits  of  the  empire.  Meanwhile,  he  rallied  all  his  forces, 
and,  without  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  Western  legions,  risked  a 
battle  with  the  barbarians  near  Adrianople.  The  Roman  army 
was  almost  annihilated.  Valens  himself,  being  wounded,  sought 
refuge  in  the  cabin  of  a  peasant ;  but  the  building  was  fired  by 
the  savages,  and  the  emperor  was  burned  alive  (a.d.  378).  The 
Goths  now  rapidly  overran  Thrace,  Macedon,  and  Thessaly, 
ravaging  the  country  to  the  very  walls  of  Constantinople. 

Theodosius  the  Great  (a.d.  379-395).  —  Gratian  was  hurrying 
to  the  help  of  his  colleague  Valens,  when  news  of  his  defeat  and 
death  at  the  hands  of  the  barbarians  was  brought  to  him,  and  he 
at  once  appointed  as  his  associate  Theodosius,  known  afterwards 
as  the  Great,  and  intrusted"  him  with  the  government  of  the 
Eastern  provinces.  Theodosius,  by  wise  and  vigorous  measures, 
quickly  reduced  the  Goths  to  submission.  Vast  multitudes  of  the 
Visigoths  were  settled  upon  the  waste  lands  of  Thrace,  while  the 
Ostrogoths  were  scattered  in  various  colonies  in  different  regions 
of  Asia  Minor.  The  Goths  became  allies  of  the  Emperor  of  the 
East,  and  more  than  40,000  of  these  warlike  barbarians,  who 
were  destined  to  be  the  subverters  of  the  empire,  were  enlisted 
in  the  imperial  legions. 

While  Theodosius  was  thus  composing  the  East,  the  West, 
through  the  jealous  rivalries  of  different  competitors  for  the  con- 
trol of  the  government,  had  fallen  into  great  disorder.  Theodosius 
twice  interposed  to  right  affairs,  and  then  took  the  government 
into  his  own  hands.  For  four  months  he  ruled  as  sole  monarch 
of  the  empire. 

Final  Division  of  the  Empire  (a.d.  395).  —  The  Roman  world 
was  now  united  for  the  last  time  under  a  single  master.  Just 
before  his  death,  Theodosius  divided  the  empire  between  his  two 
sons,  Arcadius  and  Honorius,  assigning  the  former,  who  was  only 
eighteen  years  of  age,  the  government  of  the  East,  and  giving  the 
latter,  a  mere  child  of  eleven,  the  sovereignty  of  the  West;  This 
was  the  final  partition  of  the  Roman  empire  —  the  issue  of  that 
growing  tendency,  which  we  have  observed  in  its  immoderately 


THE  EASTERN  EMPIRE. 


161 


extended  dominions,  to  break  apart.     The  separate  histories  of 
the  East  and  the  West  now  begin. 

The  Eastern  Empire.  —  The  story  of  the  fortunes  of  the  Em- 
pire in  the  East  need  not  detain  us  long  at  this  point  of  our 
history.  This  monarchy  lasted  over  a  thousand  years  — from 
the  accession  to  power  of  Arcadius,  a.d.  395,  to  the  capture  of 
Constantinople  by  the  Turks,  a.d.  1453.  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  the  greater  part  of  its  history  belongs  to  the  mediaeval  period. 
Up  to  the  time  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Empire  in  the  West,  the 
sovereigns  of  the  East  were  engaged  almost  incessantly  in  sup- 
pressing uprisings  of  their  Gothic  allies  or  mercenaries,  or  in 
repelling  invasions  of  the  Huns  and  the  Vandals.  Frequently  dur- 
ing this  period,  in  order  to  save  their  own  territories,  the  Eastern 
emperors,  by  dishonorable  inducements,  persuaded  the  barbarians 
to  direct  their  ravaging  expeditions  against  the  provinces  of  the 
West. 


Last  Days  of  the  Empire  in  the  West. 

First  Invasion  of  Italy  by  Alaric.  — Only  a  few  years  had 
elapsed  after  the  death  of  the  great  Theodosius,  before  the  bar- 
barians were  trooping  in  vast  hordes  through  all  the  regions  of  the 
West.  First,  from  Thrace  and  Moesia  came  the  Visigoths,  led  by 
the  great  Alaric.  They  poured  through  the  Pass  of  Thermopylae, 
and  devastated  almost  the  entire  peninsula  of  Greece ;  but,  being 
driven  from  that  country  by  Stilicho,  the  renowned  Vandal  gen- 
eral ^  of  Honorius,  they  crossed  the  Julian  Alps,  and  spread  terror 
throughout  all  Italy.  Stilicho  followed  the  barbarians  cautiously, 
and,  attacking  them  at  a  favorable  moment,  inflicted  a  terrible  and 
double  defeat  upon  them  at  Pollentia  and  Verona  (a.d.  402-403). 
The  captured  camp  was  found  filled  with  the  spoils  of  Thebes, 
Corinth,  and  Sparta.     Gathering  the  remnants   of  his   shattered 

1  Hodgkin  makes  the  following  suggestive  comparison :  "  Stilicho  [and 
others  like  him]  were  the  prototypes  of  the  German  and  F:nglish  officers  who 
in  our  own  day  have  reorganized  the  armies  or  commanded  the  fleets  of  the 
Sultan,  and  led  the  expeditions  of  the  Khedive." 


162 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE  IN  THE   WEST, 


THE  INVASION  OF  ITALY, 


163 


army,  Alaric  forced  his  way  with  difficulty  through  the  defiles  of 
the  Alps,  and  escaped. 

last  Triumph  at  Eome  (a.d.  404).  — A  terrible  danger  had 
been  averted.  All  Italy  burst  forth  in  expressions  of  gratitude  and 
joy.  The  days  of  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones  were  recalled,  and  the 
name  of  Stilicho  was  pronounced  with  that  of  Marius.  A  mag- 
nificent triumph  at  Rome  celebrated  the  victory  and  the  deliver- 
ance. The  youthful  Honorius  and  his  faithful  general  Stilicho  rode 
side  by  side  in  the  imperial  chariot.  It  was  the  last  triumph  that 
Rome  ever  saw.  Three  hundred  times  —  such  is  asserted  to  be 
the  number  —  the  Imperial  City  had  witnessed  the  triumphal  pro- 
cession of  her  victorious  generals,  celebrating  conquests  in  all 
quarters  of  the  world. 

Last  Gladiatorial  Combat  of  the  Amphitheatre.  —  The  same 
year  that  marks  the  last  military  triumph  at  Rome  also  signalizes 
the  last  gladiatorial  combat  in  the  Roman  amphitheatre.  It  is  to 
Christianity  that  the  credit  of  the  suppression  of  the  inhuman 
exhibitions  of  the  amphitheatre  is  entirely,  or  almost  entirely,  due. 
The  Pagan  philosophers  usually  regarded  them  with  indifference, 
often  with  favor.  Thus  Pliny  commends  a  friend  for  giving  a  glad- 
iatorial entertainment  at  the  funeral  of  his  wife.  And  when  the 
Pagan  moralists  did  condemn  the  spectacles,  it  was  rather  for  other 
reasons  than  that  they  regarded  them  as  inhuman  and  absolutely 
contrary  to  the  rules  of  ethics.  They  were  defended  on  the  ground 
that  they  fostered  a  martial  spirit  among  the  people  and  inured 
the  soldier  to  the  sights  of  the  battle-field.  Hence  gladiatorial 
games  were  actually  exhibited  to  the  legions  before  they  set  out 
on  their  campaigns.  Indeed,  all  classes  appear  to  have  viewed 
the  matter  in  much  the  same  light,  and  with  exactly  the  same 
absence  of  moral  disapprobation,  that  we  ourselves  regard  the 
slaughter  of  animals  for  food. 

But  the  Christian  fathers  denounced  the  combats  as  absolutely 
immoral,  and  labored  in  every  possible  way  to  create  a  public 
opinion  against  them.  The  members  of  their  own  body  who 
attended  the  spectacles  were  excommunicated.      At  length,  in 


A.D.  325,  the  first  imperial  edict  against  them  was  issued  by 
Constantine.  This  decree  appears  to  have  been  very  little  re- 
garded ;  nevertheless,  from  this  time  forward  the  exhibitions  were 
under  something  of  a  ban,  until  their  final  abolition  was  brought 
about  by  an  incident  of  the  games  that  closed  the  triumph 
of  Honorius.  In  the  midst  of  the  exhibition  a  Christian  monk, 
named  Telemachus,  descending  into  the  arena,  rushed  between 
the  combatants,  but  was  instantly  killed  by  a  shower  of  missiles 
thrown  by  the  people,  who  were  angered  by  this  interruption  of 
their  sports.  But  the  people  soon  repented  of  their  act ;  and 
Honorius  himself,  who  was  present,  was  moved  by  the  scene. 
Christianity  had  awakened  the  conscience  and  touched  the  heart 
of  Rome.  The  martyrdom  of  the  monk  led  to  an  imperial  edict 
"which  abolished  forever  the  human  sacrifices  of  the  amphi- 
theatre." 

Invasion  of  Italy  by  Various  German  Tribes.  —  While  Italy 
was  celebrating  her  triumph  over  the  Goths,  another  and  more 
formidable  invasion  was  preparing  in  the  north.  The  tribes  be- 
yond the  Rhine  —  the  Vandals,  the  Suevi,  the  Burgundians,  and 
other  peoples  —  driven  onward  by  some  unknown  cause,  poured 
in  impetuous  streams  from  the  forests  and  morasses  of  Germany, 
and  bursting  the  barriers  of  the  Alps,  overspread  the  devoted 
plains  of  Italy.  The  alarm  caused  by  them  among  the  Italians 
was  even  greater  than  that  inspired  by  the  Gothic  invasion ;  for 
Alaric  was  a  Christian,  while  Radagaisus,  the  leader  of  the  'new 
hordes,  was  a  superstitious  savage,  who  paid  worship  to  gods  that 
required  the  bloody  sacrifice  of  captive  enemies. 

By  such  efforts  as  Rome  put  forth  in  the  younger  and  more 
vigorous  days  of  the  republic,  when  Hannibal  was  at  her  gates,  an 
army  was  now  equipped  and  placed  under  the  command  of  Stilicho. 
Meanwhile  the  barbarians  had  advanced  as  far  as  Florence,  and 
were  now  besieging  that  place.     Stilicho  here  surrounded  the  vast 

host  —  variously  estimated  from  200,000  to  400,000  men and 

starved  them  into  a  surrender.     Their  chief,  Radagaisus,  was  put 


164 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE  IN  THE   WEST, 


THE  SACKING   OF  ROME. 


165 


to  death,  and  great  numbers  of  the  barbarians  that  the  sword  and 
famine  had  spared  were  sold  as  slaves  (a.d.  406). 

The  Eansom  of  Eome  (a.d.  409).  —  Shortly  after  the  victory 
of  Stilicho  over  the  German  barbarians,  he  came  under  the  suspi- 
cion of  the  weak  and  jealous  Honorius,  and  was  executed.  Thus 
fell  the  great  general  whose  sword  and  counsel  had  twice  saved 
Rome  from  the  barbarians,  and  who  might  again  have  averted 
similar  dangers  that  were  now  at  hand.  Listening  to  the  rash 
counsels  of  his  unworthy  advisers,  Honorius  provoked  to  revolt 
the  30,000  Gothic  mercenaries  in  the  Roman  legions  by  a  mas- 
sacre of  their  wives  and  children,  who  were  held  as  hostages  in 
the  different  cities  of  Italy.  The  Goths  beyond  the  Alps  joined 
with  their  kinsmen  to  avenge  the  perfidious  act.  Alaric  again 
crossed  the  mountains,  and  pillaging  the  cities  in  his  way,  led  his 
hosts  to  the  very  gates  of  Rome.  Not  since  the  time  of  the 
dread  Hannibal  (see  page  65) — more  than  six  hundred  years 
before  —  had  Rome  been  insulted  by  the  presence  of  a  foreign 
foe  beneath  her  walls. 

The  barbarians  by  their  vast  number  were  enabled  to  completely 
surround  the  city,  and  thus  cut  it  off  from  its  supplies  of  food. 
Famine  soon  forced  the  Romans  to  sue  for  terms  of  surrender. 
The  ambassadors  of  the  Senate,  when  they  came  before  Alaric, 
began,  in  lofty  and  unbecoming  language,  to  warn  him  not  to 
render  the  Romans  desperate  by  hard  or  dishonorable  terms : 
their  fury  when  driven  to  despair,  they  represented,  was  terrible, 
and  their  number  enormous.  "  The  thicker  the  grass,  the  easier 
to  mow  it,"  was  Alaric's  derisive  reply.  The  barbarian  chieftain 
at  length  named  the  ransom  that  he  would  accept  and  spare  the 
city :  "  All  the  gold  and  silver  in  the  city,  whether  it  were  the 
property  of  individuals  or  of  the  state  ;  all  the  rich  and  precious 
movables ;  and  all  the  slaves  that  could  prove  their  title  to  the 
name  of  barbarian."  The  amazed  commissioners,  in  deprecating 
tones,  asked,  "  If  such,  O  king,  are  your  demands,  what  do  you 
intend  to  leave  us?"     "Your  lives,"  responded  the  conqueror. 

The  ransom  was  afterwards  considerably  modified  and  reduced. 


It  was  fixed  at  "  5000  pounds  of  gold,  30,000  of  silver,  4000 
silken  robes,  3000  pieces  of  scarlet  cloth,  and  3000  pounds  of 
pepper."     The  last-named  article  was  much  used  in  Roman  cook- 
ery, and  was  very  expensive,  being  imported  from  India.     Meri- 
vale,  in  contrasting  the  condition  of  Rome  at  this  time  with  her 
ancient  wealth  and  grandeur,  estimates  that  the  gilding  of  the  roof 
of  the  Capitoline  temple  far  exceeded  the  entire  ransom,  and  that 
it  was  four  hundred  times  less  than  that  (five  miUiards  of  francs) 
demanded  of  France  by  the  Prussians  in  187 1.     Small  as  it  com- 
paratively was,  the  Romans  were  able  to  raise  it  only  by  the  most 
extraordinary   measures.      The    images   of   the   gods   were  first 
stripped  of  their  ornaments  of  gold  and  precious  stones,  and 
finally  the  statues  themselves  were  melted  down. 

Sack  of  Rome  by  Alaric  (a.d.  410).  —  Upon  retiring  from 
Rome,  Alaric  established  his  camp  in  Etruria.  Here  he  was  • 
joined  by  great  numbers  of  fugitive  slaves,  and  by  fresh  accessions 
of  barbarians  from  beyond  the  Alps.  The  Gallic  king  now  de- 
manded for  his  followers  lands  of  Honorius,  who,  with  his  court, 
was  safe  behind  the  marshes  of  Ravenna ;  but  the  emperor  treated 
all  the  proposals  of  the  barbarian  with  foolish  insolence.  Rome 
paid  the  penalty.  Alaric  turned  upon  the  devoted  city,  deter- 
mined upon  its  sack  and  plunder.  The  barbarians  broke  into 
the  capital  by  night,  "  and  the  inhabitants  were  awakened  by  the 
tremendous  sound  of  the  Gothic  trumpet."  Precisely  eight  hun- 
dred years  had  passed  since  its  sack  by  the  Gauls.  During  that 
time  the  Imperial  City  had  carried  its  victorious  standards  over 
three  continents,  and  had  gathered  within  the  temples  of  its  gods 
and  the  palaces  of  its  nobles  the  plunder  of  the  world.  Now 
it  was  given  over  for  a  spoil  to  the  fierce  tribes  from  beyond  the 
Danube. 

Alaric  commanded  his  soldiers  to  respect  the  lives  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  to  leave  untouched  the  treasures  of  the  Christian  temples ; 
but  the  wealth  of  the  citizens  he  encouraged  them  to  make  their 
own.  For  six  days  and  nights  the  rough  barbarians  trooped 
through  the  streets  of  the  city  on  their  mission  of  pillage.     Their 


166 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE  IN  THE    WEST. 


SEIZURE   OF  THE    WESTERN  PROVINCES. 


167 


wagons  were  heaped  with  the  costly  furniture,  the  rich  plate,  and 
the  silken  garments  stripped  from  the  palaces  of  the  wealthy 
patricians  and  the  temples  of  the  gods.  Amidst  the  license  of 
the  sack,  the  barbarian  instincts  of  the  robbers  broke  loose  from 
all  restraint,  and  the  city  was  everywhere  wet  with  blood,  while 
the  nights  were  lighted  with  burning  buildings. 

Effects  of  the  Disaster  upon  Paganism.  —  The  overwhelming 
disaster  that  had  befallen  the  Imperial  City  produced  a  profound 
impression  upon  both  Pagans  and  Christians  throughout  the  Ro- 
man world.     The  former  asserted  that  these  unutterable  calamities 
had  fallen  upon  the  Roman  state  because  of  the  abandonment  by 
the  people  of  the  worship  of  the  gods  of  their  forefathers,  under 
whose  protection  and  favor  Rome  had  become  the  mistress  of  the 
world.     The  Christians,  on  the  other  hand,  saw  in  the  fall  of 
the  Eternal  City  the  fulfilment  of  the   prophecies   against   the 
Babylon  of  the   Apocalypse.     The   latter  interpretation  of  the 
appalling  calamity  gained  credit  amidst  the  panic  and  despair  of 
the  times.    The  temples  of  the  once  popular  deities  were  deserted 
by  their  worshippers,  who  had  lost  faith  in  gods  that  could  neither 
save  themselves  nor  protect  their  shrines  from  spoliation.   "  Hence- 
forth," says  Merivale,  "the  power  of  paganism  was  entirely  broken, 
and  the  indications  which  occasionally  meet  us  of  its  continued 
existence  are  rare  and  trifling.     Christianity  stepped  into  its  de- 
serted inheritance.     The  Christians  occupied  the  temples,  trans- 
forming them  into  churches." 

The  Death  of  Alaric.  —  After  withdrawing  his  warriors  from 
Rome,  Alaric  led  them  southward.  As  they  moved  slowly  on, 
they  piled  still  higher  the  wagons  of  their  long  trains  with  the  rich 
spoils  of  the  cities  and  villas  of  Campania  and  other  districts  of 
Southern  Italy.  In  the  villas  of  the  Roman  nobles  the  rough  bar- 
barians spread  rare  banquets  from  the  stores  of  their  well-filled 
cellars,  and  drank  from  jewelled  cups  the  famed  Falemian  wine. 

Alaric  led  his  soldiers  to  the  extreme  southern  point  of  Italy, 
intending  to  cross  the  Straits  of  Messina  into  Sicily,  and,  after 
subduing  that  island,  to  carry  his  conquests  into  the  provinces  of 


Africa.  His  designs  were  frustrated  by  his  death,  which  occurred 
A.D.  412.  With  religious  care  his  followers  secured  the  body  of 
their  hero  against  molestation  by  his  enemies.  The  little  river 
Busentinus,  in  Northern  Bruttium,  was  turned  from  its  course  with 
great  labor,  and  in  the  bed  of  the  stream  was  constructed  a  tomb, 
in  which  was  placed  the  body  of  the  king,  with  his  jewels  and  tro- 
phies. The  river  was  then  restored  to  its  old  channel,  and,  that 
the  exact  spot  might  never  be  known,  the  prisoners  who  had  been 
forced  to  do  the  work  were  all  put  to  death. 

The  Barbarians  seize  the  Western  Provinces.  —  We  must  now 
turn  our  eyes  from  Rome  and  Italy  to  observe  the  movement  of 
events  in  the  provinces.  In  his  efforts  to  defend  Italy,  StiHcho 
had  withdrawn  the  last  legion  from  Britain,  and  had  drained 
the  camps  and  fortresses  of  Gaul.  The  Hadrian  Wall  was  left 
unmanned ;  the  passages  of  the  Rhine  were  left  unguarded ;  and 
the  agitated  multitudes  of  barbarians  beyond  these  defences  were 
free  to  pour  their  innumerable  hosts  into  all  the  fair  provinces  of 
the  empire.  Hordes  of  Suevi,  Alani,  Vandals,  and  Burgundians 
overspread  all  the  plains  and  valleys  of  Gaul.  The  Vandals 
pushed  on  into  the  South  of  Spain,  and  there  occupied  a  large 
tract  of  country,  which,  in  its  present  name  of  Andalusia,  preserves 
the  memory  of  its  barbarian  setders.  From  these  regions  they 
crossed  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  overran  the  Roman  provinces  of 
Northern  Africa,  captured  Carthage  (a.d.  439),  and  made  that 
city  the  seat  of  the  dread  empire  of  the  Vandals.  The  Goths, 
with  Italy  pillaged,  recrossed  the  Alps,  and  establishing  their 
camps  in  the  south  of  Gaul  and  the  north  of  Spain,  set  up  in 
those  regions  what  is  known  as  the  Kingdom  of  the  Visigoths. 

In  Britain,  upon  the  withdrawal  of  the  Roman  legions,  the  Picts 
breaking  over  the  wall  of  Hadrian,  descended  upon  and  pillaged 
the  cities  of  the  South.  The  half-Romanized  and  effeminate  pro- 
vincials —  no  match  for  their  hardy  kinsmen  who  had  never  bowed 
their  necks  to  the  yoke  of  Rome  —  were  driven  to  despair  by  the 
ravages  of  their  relentless  enemies,  and,  in  their  helplessness,  in- 
vited to  their  aid  the  Angles  and  Saxons  from  the  shores  of  the 


168 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE  IN  THE   WEST 


North  Sea.  These  people  came  in  their  rude  boats,  drove  back 
the  invaders,  and,  being  pleased  with  the  soil  and  climate  of  the 
island,  took  possession  of  the  country  for  themselves,  and  became 
the  ancestors  of  the  English  people. 

Invasion  of  the  Huns:  Battle  of  Chalons  (a.d.  451).  —  The 
barbarians  that  were  thus  overrunning  and  parcelling  out  the  inher- 
itance of  the  dying  empire  were  now,  in  turn,  pressed  upon  and 
terrified  by  a  foe  more  hideous  and  dreadful  in  their  eyes  than 
were  they  in  the  sight  of  the  peoples  among  whom  they  had  thrust 
themselves.  These  were  the  non- Aryan  Huns,  of  whom  we  have 
already  caught  a  glimpse  as  they  drove  the  panic-stricken  Goths 
across  the  Danube.  At  this  time  their  leader  was  Attila,  whom  the 
affrighted  inhabitants  of  Europe  called  the  "Scourge  of  God." 
It  was  declared  that  the  grass  never  grew  again  where  once  the 
hoof  of  Attila's  horse  had  trod. 

Attila  defeated  the  armies  of  the  Eastern  emperor,  and  exacted 
tribute  from  the  court  of  Constantinople.  Finally  he  turned  west- 
ward, and,  at  the  head  of  a  host  numbering,  it  is  asserted, 
700,000  warriors,  crossed  the  Rhine  into  Gaul,  purposing  first  to 
ravage  that  province,  and  then  to  traverse  Italy  with  fire  and 
sword,  in  order  to  destroy  the  last  vestige  of  the  Roman  power. 

The  Romans  and  their  Gothic  conquerors  laid  aside  their  ani- 
mosities, and  made  common  cause  against  a  common  enemy. 
The  Visigoths  were  rallied  by  their  king,  Theodoric  ;  the  Italians, 
th^  Franks,  the  Burgimdians,  flocked  to  the  standard  of  the  Roman 
general  Aetius.  Attila  drew  up  his  mighty  hosts  upon  the  plain 
of  Chalons,  in  the  north  of  Gaul,  and  there  awaited  the  onset  of 
the  Romans  and  their  allies.  The  conflict  was  long  and  terrible. 
Theodoric  was  slain;  but  at  last  fortune  turned  against  the  bar- 
barians. The  loss  of  the  Huns  is  variously  estimated  at  from 
100,000  to  300,000  warriors.  Attila  succeeded  in  escaping  from 
the  field,  and  retreated  with  his  shattered  hosts  across  the  Rhine 
(A.D.  451). 

This  great  victory  is  placed  among  the  significant  events  of 
history;   for  it  decided  that  the   Christian  Germanic  races,  and 


DEATH  OF  ATTILA. 


169 


not  the  pagan  Scythic  Huns,  should  inherit  the  dominions  of  the 
expiring  Roman  Empire,  and  control  the  destinies  of  Europe. 

The  Death  of  Attila.— The  year  after  his  defeat  at  Chalons, 
Attila  again  crossed  the  Alps,  and  burned  or  plundered  all  the 
important  cities  of  Northern  Italy.  The  Veneti  fled  for  safety  to 
the  morasses  at  the  head  of  the  Adriatic  (a.d.  452).  Upon  the 
islets  where  they  built  their  rude  dwellings,  there  grew  up  in  time 
the  city  of  Venice,  the  "  eldest  daughter  of  the  Roman  Empire," 
the  "  Carthage  of  the  Middle  Ages." 

The  conqueror  threatened  Rome ;  but  Leo  the  Great,  bishop 
of  the  capital,  went  with  an  embassy  to  the  camp  of  Attila,  and 
pleaded  for  the  city.  He  recalled  to  the  mind  of  Attila  the 
fact  that  death  had  overtaken  the  impious  Alaric  soon  after  he  had 
given  the  Imperial  City  to  be  sacked,  and  warned  him  not  to  call 
down  upon  himself  the  like  judgment  of  heaven.  To  these  ad- 
monitions of  the  Christian  bishop  was  added  the  persuasion  of 
a  golden  bribe  from  the  Emperor  Valentinian  ;  and  Attila  was 
induced  to  spare  Southern  Italy,  and  to  lead  his  warriors  back 
beyond  the  Alps.  Shortly  after  he  had  crossed  the  Danube,  he 
died  suddenly  in  his  camp,  and  like  Alaric  was  buried  secretly, — 
and  "  no  man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre  unto  this  day."  His  fol- 
lowers gradually  withdrew  from  Europe  into  the  wilds  of  their 
native  Scythia,  or  were  absorbed  by  the  peoples  they  had  con- 
quered.' 

^  There  is  much  uncertainty  respecting  the  part  which  the  warriors  of  Attila 
may  have  taken  in  the  formation  of  the  later  Hungarian  state  in  Europe. 
That  appears  to  have  owed  its  origin  to  another  invading  band  of  the  same 
people,  that  entered  Europe  several  centuries  later.  « It  is  at  least  certain," 
says  Creasy,  "  that  the  Magyars  of  Arpad,  who  are  the  immediate  ancestors  of 
the  bulk  of  the  modern  Hungarians,  and  who  conquered  the  country  which 
bears  the  name  of  Hungary  in  A.D.  889,  were  of  the  same  stock  of  mankind  as 
the  Huns  of  Attila,  if  they  did  not  belong  to  the  same  subdivision  of  that  stock. 
Nor  is  there  any  improbability  in  the  tradition  that  after  Attila's  death  many 
of  his  warriors  remained  in  Hungary,  and  that  their  descendants  afterwards 
joined  the  Huns  of  Arpad  in  their  career  of  conquest.  It  is  certain  that  Attila 
made  Hungary  the  seat  of  his  empire."  — Z>mjzz/^  Battles^  p.  157. 


170        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE  IN  THE   WEST. 

Sack  of  Rome  by  the  Vandals  (a.d.  455).  —  Rome  had  been 
saved  a  visitation  from  the  spoiler  of  the  North,  but  a  new  de- 
struction was  about  to  burst  upon  it  by  way  of  the  sea  from  the 
South.  Africa  sent  out  another  enemy  whose  greed  for  plunder 
proved  more  fatal  to  Rome  than  the  eternal  hate  of  Hannibal.  The 
kings  of  the  Vandal  Empire  in  Northern  Africa  had  acquired  as 
perfect  a  supremacy  in  the  Western  Mediterranean  as  Carthage 
ever  enjoyed  in  the  days  of  her  commercial  pride.  Vandal  cor- 
sairs swept  the  seas  and  harassed  the  coasts  of  Sicily  and  Italy, 
and  even  plundered  the  maritime  towns  of  the  Eastern  provinces. 
In  the  year  455  a  Vandal  fleet,  led  by  the  dread  Geiseric  (Gen- 
seric),  sailed  up  the  Tiber. 

These  barbarians  had  been  exhorted  by  the  Roman  empress 
Eudoxia  to  come  and  avenge  the  murder  of  her  husband  Valen- 
tinian  and  her  forced  alliance  with  a  senator  named  Maximus, 
who,  being  invested  with  the  purple,  had  forced  the  widowed 
queen  to  accept  the  hand  stained,  as  many  believed,  with  the 
blood  of  her  own  husband. 

Panic  seized  the  people  ;  for  the  name  Vandal  was  pronounced 
with  terror  throughout  the  world.  Again  the  great  Leo,  who  had 
once  before  saved  his  flock  from  the  fury  of  an  Attila,  went  forth 
to  intercede  in  the  name  of  Christ  for  the  Imperial  City.  Geiseric 
granted  to  the  pious  bishop  the  lives  of  the  citizens,  but  said  that 
the  plunder  of  the  capital  belonged  to  his  warriors.  For  fourteen 
days  and  nights  the  city  was  given  over  to  the  ruthless  barbarians. 
The  ships  of  the  Vandals,  which  almost  hid  with  their  number  the 
waters  of  the  Tiber,  were  piled,  as  had  been  the  wagons  of  the 
Goths  before  them,  with  the  rich  and  weighty  spoils  of  the  capital. 
Palaces  were  stripped  of  their  ornaments  and  furniture,  and  the 
walls  of  the  temples  denuded  of  their  statues  and  of  the  trophies 
of  a  hundred  Roman  victories.  From  the  Capitoline  sanctuary 
were  borne  off"  the  golden  candlestick  and  other  sacred  articles 
that  Titus  had  stolen  from  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem. 

The  greed  of  the  barbarians  was  sated  at  last,  and  they 
were    ready  to   withdraw.      The  Vandal    fleet   sailed    for   Car- 


FALL   OF  THE  EMPIRE  IN   THE    WEST. 


171 


thage,*  bearing,  besides  the  plunder  of  the  city,  more  than  30,000 
of  the  inhabitants  as  slaves.  Carthage,  through  her  own  barba- 
rian conquerors,  was  at  last  avenged  upon  her  hated  rival.  The 
mournful  presentiment  of  Scipio  had  fallen  true  (see  p.  75).  The 
cniel  fate  of  Carthage  might  have  been  read  again  in  the  pillaged 
city  that  the  Vandals  left  behind  them. 

Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  West  (a.d.  4  76) .  —  Only  the 
shadow  of  the  Empire  in  the  West  now  remained.  All  the  prov- 
inces—  Illyricum,  Gaul,  Britain,  Spain,  and  Africa  —  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  Goths,  the  Vandals,  the  Franks,  the  Burgundians,  the 
Angles  and  Saxons,  and  various  other  intruding  tribes.  Italy,  as 
well  as  Rome  herself,  had  become  again  and  again  the  spoil  of  the 
insatiable  barbarians.  The  story  of  the  twenty  years  following  the 
sack  of  the  capital  by  Geiseric  affords  only  a  repetition  of  the 
events  we  have  been  narrating.  During  these  years  several  pup- 
pet emperors  were  set  up  by  the  different  leaders  of  the  invading 
tribes.  A  final  seditious  movement  placed  upon  the  shadow- 
throne  a  child  of  six  years,  son  of  Orestes,  the  leading  spirit  of  the 
new  revolution. 

By  what  has  been  called  a  freak  of  fortune,  this  boy- sovereign 
bore  the  name  of  Romulus  Augustus,  thus  uniting  in  the  name  of 
the  last  Roman  Emperor  of  the  West  the  names  of  the  founder  of 
Rome  and  of  the  establisher  of  the  empire.  Not  so  much  on  ac- 
count of  his  youth  as  from  contempt  excited  by  the  imperial  farce 
he  was  forced  to  play,  this  emperor  became  known  as  Augustulus 
—  "  the  little  Augustus."  He  reigned  only  one  year,  when  Odo- 
vaker  (Odoacer),  the  leader  of  the  Heruli  —  a  small  but  formid- 
able German  tribe,  all  of  whom  claimed  royal  descent  —  having 
demanded  one-third  of  the  lands  of  Italy,  to  divide  among  his  fol- 
lowers for  services  rendered  the  empire,  and  having  been  refused, 

^  The  fleet  was  overtaken  by  a  storm  and  suffered  some  damage,  but  the 
most  precious  of  the  relics  it  bore  escaped  harm.  "  The  golden  candlestick 
reached  the  African  capital,  was  recovered  a  century  later,  and  lodged  in  Con- 
stantinople by  Justinian,  and  by  him  replaced,  from  superstitious  motives,  in 
Jerusalem.     From  that  time  its  history  is  lost."  —  Merivale. 


!  t 


rt! 


ill 


172        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE  IN  THE   WEST 

put  Orestes  to  death,  and  dethroned  the  child-emperor.  His  life 
was  spared,  and  his  friends  were  permitted  to  take  him  into 
retirement  in  the  villa  of  Lucullus,  in  Campania. 

The  Roman  Senate  now  sent  an  embassy  to  Constantinople, 
with  the  royal  vestments  and  the  insignia  of  the  imperial  office,  to 
represent  to  the  Emperor  Zeno  that  the  West  was  willing  to  give 
up  its  claims  to  an  emperor  of  its  own,  and  to  request  that  the 
German  chief,  with  the  title  of  "  Patrician,"  might  rule  Italy  as 
his  viceroy.  This  was  granted  ;  and  Italy  now  became  in  effect 
a  province  of  the  Empire  in  the  East  (a.d.  476).  The  Roman 
Empire  in  the  West  had  come  to  an  end,  after  an  existence  from 
the  founding  of  Rome  of  1229  years. 


W 


-*«Ni    <— 


SARCOPHAGUS  OF   CORNELIUS   SCIPIO   BARBATUS. 
(Consul  298  B.C.) 


ROMAN  EMPERORS, 


173 


ROMAN  EMPERORS  FROM  COMMODUS  TO   ROMULUS 

AUGUSTUS. 


(A.D.  180-476.) 


A.D. 


Commodus 180-192 

Pertinax 197 

Didius  Julianus 193 

Septimius  Severus   ....  193-21 1 

SCaracalla 211-217 
Geta 211-212 

Macrinus 217-218 

Elagabalus 218-222 

Alexander  Severus  ....  222-235 

Maximin 235-238 

Gordian  III 238-244 

Philip 244-249 

Decius 249-251 

Period  of  the  Thirty  Tyrants    251-268 

Claudius 268-270 

Aurelian 270-275 

Tacitus 275-276 

Probus  ........  276-282 

Carus    ........  282-283 

iCarinus 283-284 
Numerian 283-284 


J  Diocletian  .     .     . 
Maximian   .     .     . 
^  Constantius  I. 
I  Galerius      .     .     . 
Constantine  the  Great 
Reigns  as  sole  ruler 
Constantine  II.    .     . 
Constans  I.     ... 
Constantius  II.    .     . 

Reigns  as  sole  ruler 
Julian  the  Apostate 

Jovian 

(  Valentinian  I. 
(  Valens  (in  the  East) 
Gratian      .... 
Maximus    .... 
Valentinian  II.    .     . 
Eugenius   .... 
Theodosius  the  Great 
Reigns  as  sole  emperor 


A.D. 

284-305 
286-305 
305-306 

305-311 
306-337 

323-337 
337-340 

337-350 
337-361 
350-361 
361-363 
363-364 

364-375 
364-378 

375-383 
383-388 
375-392 
392-394 

379-395 
394-395 


FINAL  PARTITION  OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

(A.D.  395.) 

EMPERORS  IN  THE  WEST. 


EMPERORS  IN  THE  EAST. 
(From  A.D.  395  to  Fall  of  Rome.) 

A.D, 

Arcadius 395-408 

Theodosius  II 408-450 

Marcian 450-457 

Leo  1 457-474 

Zeno 474-491 


A.D. 

Honorius 395-423 

Valentinian  III 425-455 

Maximus 455 

Avitus 455-456 

Count   Ricimer   creates  and 

deposes  emperors     .     .     .  456-472 
Romulus  Augustus  ....  475-476 


\\\ 


172       LASr  MdWS  m  TMM^  EMPIRE  IN  THE  WEST. 

put  Orestes  to  death,  and  dethroned  the  child-emperor.  His  life 
was  spared,  and  his  friends  were  permitted  to  take  him  into 
retirement  in  the  villa  of  Luculltis,  in  Campania. 

The  Roman  Senate  now  sent  an  embassy  to  Constantinople, 
with  the  royal  vestments  and  the  insignia  of  the  imperial  office,  to 
represent  to  the  Emperor  Zeno  that  the  West  was  willing  to  give 
up  its  claims  to  an  emperor  of  its  own,  and  to  request  that  the 
German  chief,  with  the  title  of  "  Patrician,"  might  rule  Italy  as 
his  viceroy.  This  was  granted  ;  and  Italy  now  became  in  effect 
a  province  of  the  Empire  in  the  East  (a.d.  476).  The  Roman 
Empire  in  the  West  had  come  to  an  end,  after  an  existence  from 
the  founding  of  Rome  of  1229  years. 


SARCOPHAGUS   OF   CORNELIUS   SCIPIO    BARBATUS. 
((^ontut  298  B.C.) 


ROMAN  EMPERORS. 


173 


ROMAN  EMTERORS  FROM  COMMODUS  TO   ROMULUS 

AUGUSTUS. 


Commodus  .  . 
Pertinax  .  .  . 
Didius  Julianus  . 
Septimius  Severus 

JCaracalla  .  . 
Geta  .... 
Macrinus  .  .  , 
Elagabalus  .  . 
Alexander  Severus 
Maximin  .  .  . 
Gordian  III.  .  . 
Philip  .... 
Decius  .... 
Period  of  the  Thirty 
Claudius  .  .  . 
Aurelian  .  .  . 
Tacitus  .... 
Probus  .... 
Carus     .... 

JCarinus  .     .     . 
Numerian   .     . 


(A.D.  180-476.) 


Tyrants 


A.D. 

180-192 

193 

193 
I 93-2 I I 

211-217 

211-212 

217-218 

218-222 

222-235 

235-238 
238-244 
244-249 
249-251 
251-268 
268-270 
270-275 
275-276 
276-282 
282-283 
283-284 
283-284 


1 


Diocletian  .     .     . 

Maximian    .     .     . 
^  Constant! us  I. 
X  Galerius      .     .     . 
Constantine  the  Great 

Reigns  as  sole  ruler 
Constantine  II.    .     . 
Constans  I.     .     .     . 
Constantius  II.    .     . 

Reigns  as  sole  ruler 
Julian  the  Apostate 
Jovian 

JValentinian  I.       .     . 
Valens  (in  the  East) 
Gratian       .... 
Maximus    .... 
Valentinian  II.    .     . 
Eugenius    .... 
Theodosius  the  Great 
Reigns  as  sole  emperor 


A.D. 


284-305 
286-305 
305-306 

305-311 
306-337 

323-337 
337-340 
337-350 
337-361 
350-361 

361-363 
363-364 
364-375 
364-378 

383-388 
375-392 
392-394 
379-395 
394-395 


FINAL   PARTITION   OF  THE  ROMAN   EMPIRE. 


(A.I).  395-) 


EMPERORS  IN  THE  EAST. 
(From  A.D.  395  to  Fall  of  Rome.) 


A.D. 


Arcadius 395-408 

Theodosius  II 408-450 

Marcian 450-457 

I^eo  1 457-474 

Zeno 474—491 


EMPERORS  IN  THE  WEST. 


A.D. 


Ilonorius 395-423 

Valentinian  III 425-455 

Maximus 455 

Avitus 455-456 

Count    Ricimer   creates   and 

deposes  emperors     .     .     .  456-472 

Romulus  Augustus  ....  475-476 


174 


ARCHITECTURE, 


CHAPTER   X. 

ARCHITECTURE,  LITERATURE,  LAW,  AND   SOCIAL   LIFE 

AMONG  THE  ROMANS. 

Architecture. 

Introductory.  —  We  purpose  in  the  present  section  to  say 
something  further  respecting  the  great  architectural  works  of  the 
ancient  Romans,  any  extended  description  of  which  before  this 
time  would  have  broken  the  continuity  of  our  narrative.  An 
examination  of  these  as  they  stood  before  time  and  violence  laid 
defacing  hands  upon  them,  or  as  they  appear  now  after  the  decay 
and  spoliation  of  many  centuries,  will  tend  to  render  more  real, 
and  to  impress  more  deeply  upon  our  minds,  the  story  we  have 
been  following  (see  Frontispiece), 

Oreek  Origm  of  Roman  ArcMtecture :  the  Arch.  —  The 
architecture  of  the  Romans  was,  in  the  main,  an  imitation  of 
Greek  models.  But  the  Romans  were  not  mere  servile  imitators. 
They  not  only  modified  the  architectural  forms  they  borrowed, 
but  they  gave  their  structures  a  distinct  character  by  the  prominent 
use  of  the  arch,  which  the  Greek  and  Oriental  builders  seldom 
employed,  though  they  were  acquainted  with  its  properties.  By 
means  of  it  the  Roman  builders  vaulted  the  roofs  of  the  largest 
buildings,  carried  stupendous  aqueducts  across  the  deepest  val- 
leys, and  spanned  the  broadest  streams  with  bridges  that  have 
resisted  all  the  assaults  of  time  and  flood  to  the  present  day. 

Sacred  Edifices.  —  The  temples  of  the  Romans  were  in  general 
so  like  those  of  the  Greeks  that  we  need  not  here  take  time  and 
space  to  enter  into  a  particular  description  of  them.^    Mention, 

^  The  most  celebrated  of  Roman  temples  was  the  Capitoline,  which  crowned 
the  Capitoline  Hill  at  Rome.  At  the  close  of  the  Punic  Wars  the  roof  of  the 
central  portion  of  the  building  was  covered  with  gilded  tiles  at  an  almost 
fabulous  expense,  —  %2!OfiOOpoo  according  to  some  authorities.     The  brazen 


THEATRES  AND  AMPHITHEATRES. 


175 


however,  should  be  made  of  their  circular  vaulted  temples,  as  this 
was  a  style  of  building  almost  exclusively  Italian.  The  best  repre- 
sentative of  this  style  of  sacred  edifices  is  the  Pantheon  ^  at  Rome, 
which  has  come  down  to  our  own  times  in  a  state  of  wonderful 
preservation.  This  structure  is  about  140  feet  in  diameter.  The 
great  concrete  dome  which  vaults  the  building  is  one  of  the 
boldest  pieces  of  masonry  executed  by  the  master-builders  of  the 
world.  The  temple  is  fronted  by  a  splendid  portico,  forming  a 
thick  grove  of  columns,  through  which  entrance  is  given  to  the 
shrine.  The  doors  were  of  bronze,  and  still  remain  in  place.  It 
was  built  about  25  B.C.  by  the  consul  M.  Agrippa,  son-in-law  of 
Augustus,  and  was  consecrated  to  Jupiter  the  Avenger.  The 
edifice  is  now  a  Christian  sanctuary,  being  known  as  The  Church 
of  All  the  Saints. 

Circnses,  Theatres,  and  Amphitheatres.  —  The  circuses  of  the 
Romans  were  what  we  should  call  race-courses.  There  were 
several  at  Rome,  the  most  celebrated  being  the  Circus  Maximus, 
which  was  first  laid  out  in  the  time  of  the  Tarquins,  and  after- 
wards enlarged  as  the  population  of  the  capital  increased,  until 
finally,  at  the  time  of  Constantine,  which  emperor  made  the  last 
extension,  it  was  capable  of  holding  probably  two  or  three  hun- 
dred thousand  spectators.^  It  was  oblong  in  shape,  being  about 
1800  feet  long  and  600  feet  wide.  From  the  course,  or  track,  the 
seats  rose  in  tiers  the  same  as  in  a  theatre.  From  the  uppermost 
row  of  seats  rose  high  buildings  with  several  stories  of  balconies 
like  the  boxes  overhanging  the  modem  stage.  The  sloping  sides 
of  the  valley  were  taken  advantage  of  in  the  formation  of  the 
seats.  The  only  remaining  trace  of  this  stupendous  structure  is 
the  terraced  appearance  of  the  low  encircling  hills. 

doors  of  the  temple  were  also  adorned  with  solid  plates  of  gold.  The  interior 
decorations  were  of  marble  and  silver.  The  walls  were  crowded  with  the 
trophies  of  war.  We  have  already  learned  of  the  fate  of  the  treasures  of  the 
sanctuary  at  the  hands  of  the  barbarian  Goths  and  Vandals  (see  pp.  165,  170). 

^  From  two  Greek  words, /aw,  all,  and  theion^  divine  (or  theos^  a  god). 

*  Authorities  differ,  ranging  from  150,000  to  380,000.     Pliny  says  250,000. 


i\ 


I 

II 


176 


ARCHITECTURE. 


THE   COLOSSEUM, 


177 


RUINS  OF  THEATRE  AT  ASPENDOS. 


The  Romans  borrowed  the  plan  of  their  theatres  from  the 
Greeks.    The  form  was  that  of  a  semicircle,  with  rising  tiers  of 

seats.  The  Greeks,  in  the 
construction  of  their  thea- 
tres, usually  took  advan- 
tage of  some  hillside ;  but 
the  Romans,  who  seemed 
to  scorn  the  idea  of  saving 
labor,  or  of  asking  nature 
to  lend  aid  in  any  work, 
when  they  set  themselves 
to  theatre-building,  erected 
the  entire  structure  upon  level  ground,  raising  a  great  support- 
ing wall  or  framework  in  place  of  the  hill  with  its  favoring 
slopes.  All  of  the  theatres  built  at  Rome  previous  to  the  year 
55  B.C.  were  of  wood.  In  that  year  Pompey  the  Great  returned 
from  his  campaigns  in  the  East,  where  he  had  seen  the  Greek 
theatre  at  Mitylene,  and  immediately  set  to  work  to  erect,  in 
imitation  of  it,  a  stone  theatre  at  Rome  that  should  seat  40,000 
spectators.  This  structure  and  two  others,  one  of  which  was 
built  by  Augustus,  were  the  only  theatres  at  the  capital. 

The  first  Roman  amphitheatre  seems  to  have  been  the  out- 
growth of  the  rivalry  between  Pompey  and  Caesar.  The  liberality 
of  the  former  in  the  erection  of  his  stone  theatre  had  so  won  for 
him  the  affections  of  the  people  that  the  latter  saw  he  must  do 
something  to  surpass  his  rival,  or  see  himself  entirely  distanced  in 
the  race  for  popular  favor.  Caesar  was  at  this  time  away  in  Gaul, 
whence  he  sent  immense  sums  of  money,  gained  by  his  successful 
wars,  to  his  friend  Curio,  then  tribune  at  Rome,  who  was  enjoined 
to  erect,  with  the  means  thus  put  into  his  hands,  a  structure  that 
should  cast  Pompey's  into  the  shade.  Pliny  tells  us  that  Curio 
built  two  wooden  theatres  side  by  side,  in  which  two  separate 
audiences  might  be  entertained  at  the  same  time.  With  things 
thus  arranged,  and  with  the  people  in  good-humor  from  the 
farcical  representations  that  had  been  given,  all  was  ready  for  the 


master-stroke  that  w^s  to  win  the  applause  of  the  fickle  multitude. 
At  a  given  signal,  one  of  the  theatres,  which  had  been  constructed 
so  as  to  admit  of  such  a  movement,  was  swung  around  and 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  other,  in  such  a  way  as  to  form  a 
vast  amphitheatre,  where,  from  a  central  space  called  the  arena 
and  designed  for  the  exhibitions,  the  seats  rose  in  receding  tiers 
on  every  side. 

The  first  stone  amphitheatre  was  erected  during  the  reign  of 
Augustus.     But  the  one  that  pushed  all  other  edifices  of  this  kind 


THE  COLOSSEUM.      (From  a  Photograph.) 

far  into  the  background,  and  in  some  respects  surpasses  any 
other  monument  ever  reared  by  man,  was  the  structure  com- 
menced by  Flavins  Vespasian,  and  often  called,  after  him,  the 
Flavian  Amphitheatre,  but  better  known  as  the  Colosseum  (see  p. 
133).  The  edifice  is  574  feet  in  its  greatest  diameter,  and  was 
capable  of  seating  87,000  spectators.  The  encircling  wall  rises  in 
four  stories  to  the  height  of  156  feet.    Within,  the  seats  rose  from 


in 


ARCmTECTURE. 


RUINS   OF  THEATRE   AT   ASPENDOS. 


The  Romans  borrowed  the  plan  of  their  theatres  from  the 
Greeks.     The  form  was  that  of  a  semicircle,  with  rising  tiers  of 

seats.  The  Greeks,  in  the 
constnictidn  of  their  thea- 
tres, usually  took  advan- 
tage of  some  hillside ;  but 
the  Romans,  who  seemed 
to  scorn  the  idea  of  saving 
labor,  or  of  asking  nature 
to  lend  aid  m  any  work, 
when  they  set  themselves 
to  theatre-building,  erected 
the  entire  stnicture  upon  level  ground,  raising  a  great  support- 
ing wall  or  framework  in  place  of  the  hill  with  its  favoring 
slopes.  All  of  the  thesitres  built  at  Rome  previous  lo  the  year 
55  B.C.  were  of  wood.  In  that  year  Pompey  the  Great  returned 
from  his  campaigns  in  the  East,  where  he  had  seen  the  Greek 
theatre  at  Mitylene,  and  immediately  set  to  work  to  erect,  in 
imitation  of  it,  a  stone  theatre  at  Rome  that  should  seat  40,000 
spectators.  This  structure  and  two  others,  one  of  which  was 
built  by  Augustus,  were  the  only  ttokties  at  the  capital. 

The  first  Roman  amphitheatre  seems  to  have  been  the  out- 
growth of  the  rivalry  between  Pompey  and  Caesar.  The  liberality 
of  the  former  in  the  erection  of  his  stone  theatre  had  so  won  for 
him  the  affections  of  the  people  that  the  latter  saw  he  must  do 
something  to  surpass  his  rival,  or  see  himself  entirely  distanced  in 
the  race  for  popular  favor.  Ciesar  was  at  this  time  away  in  Gaul, 
whence  he  sent  immense  sums  of  money,  gained  by  his  successful 
wars,  to  his  friend  C'urio,  then  tribune  at  Rome,  who  was  enjoined 
to  erect,  with  the  means  thus  put  iiilo  his  hands,  a  structure  that 
should  cast  Pompey's  into  the  shade.  Pliny  tells  us  that  Cwrio 
built  two  wooden  theatres  side  by  side,  im  which  two  separate 
audiences  might  be  entertained  at  the  same  time.  With  things 
thus  arranged,  and  with  tie  people  in  good-humor  from  the 
farcical  representations  that  had  been  given,  all  was  ready  for  the 


THE   COLOSSEUM. 


177 


master-stroke  that  was  to  win  the  applause  of  the  fickle  multitude^ 
At  a  given  signal,  one  of  the  theatres,  which  had  been  constructed 
SO  as  to  adoiil  of  such  a  movement,  was  swung  around  and 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  other,  in  such  a  way  as  to  form  a 
vast  amphitheatre,  where,  from  a  central  space  called  the  arena 
and  designed  for  the  exhibitions,  the  seats  rose  in  receding  tiers 
on  every  side. 

The  first  stone  amphitheatre  was  erected  during  the  reign  of 
Augustus.     But  the  one  that  pushed  all  other  edifices  of  this  kind 


THE  COLOSSEUM. 


(From  a  Photograph.) 


far  into  the  background,  and  in  some  respects  surpasses  any 
other  monument  ever  reared  by  man,  was  the  stnicture  com- 
menced by  Flavins  Vespasian,  and  often  called,  after  him,  the 
Flavian  Amphitheatre,  but  better  known  as  the  Colosseum  (see  p. 
133)-  The  edifice  is  574  feet  in  its  greatest  diameter,  and  was 
capable  of  seating  87,000  spectators.  The  encircling  wall  rises  in 
four  stories  lo  the  height  of  156  feet.     Within,  the  seats  rose  from 


i'tl 


178 


ARCHITECTURE. 


THE  APPIAN   WAY, 


179 


the  arena  hi  retreating  steps  to  the  magnificent  portico  that 
crowned  the  upper  circle.  Beneath  the  arena  and  seats  were 
large  chambers  designed  as  dens  for  the  wild  animals  needed  in 
the  shows.  Sockets  in  the  upper  stone-work  held  pillars  to  which 
were  fastened  the  ropes  by  means  of  which  an  immense  awning 
was  stretched  over  the  heads  of  the  spectators  to  keep  out  the 
sun  and  rain.  Fountain  jets  filled  the  air  with  perftimed  spray ; 
pieces  of  statuary,  placed  at  advantageous  points,  relieved  the 
monotony  of  the  endless  circle  of  seats  ;  and  bright-colored  silken 
decorations  lent  a  festive  appearance  to  the  vast  auditorium. 

The  enormous  proportions  of  the  Colosseum  have  enabled  it  to 
resist  all  the  agencies  of  destruction  which  have  been  at  work 
upon  it  through  so  many  centuries.  The  crowning  colonnade  was 
destroyed  by  fire;  the  immense  walls  were  quarried  by  the 
builders  of  Rome  for  a  thousand  years,  and  from  them  was  taken 
material  for  the  building  of  a  multitude  of  castles,  towers,  and 
palaces,  erected  in  the  capital  during  the  Middle  Ages ;  and  for 
seventeen  hundred  years  the  tooth  of  time  has  been  busy  upon 
every  part  of  the  gigantic  structure.  Yet,  notwithstanding  all 
these  concurring  agencies  of  ruin,  the  Colosseum  still  stands 
grand  and  impressive  as  at  first,  even  more  impressive  because 
of  these  marks  that  it  bears  of  violence  and  of  time.  It  rises 
before  us  as  "  the  embodiment  of  the  power  and  splendor  of  the 

empire." 

Many  of  the  most  important  cities  of  Italy  and  of  the  provinces 
were  provided  with  amphitheatres,  similar  in  all  essential  respects 
to  the  Colosseum  at  the  capital,  only  much  inferior  in  size,  save 
the   one   at   Capua,  which  was   nearly  as  'large  as  the  Flavian 

structure. 

Military  Eoads.  —  Foremost  among  the  works  of  utility  exe- 
cuted by  the  Romans,  and  the  most  expressive  of  the  spirit  of 
the  people,  were  their  military  roads.  Radiating  from  the  capital, 
they  grew  with  the  growing  empire,  until  all  the  countries  about 
the  Mediterranean  and  beyond  the  Alps  were  united  to  Rome  and 
to  one  another  by  a  perfect  network  of  highways  of  such  admirable 


construction  that  even  now,  in  their  ruined  state,  they  excite  the 
wonder  of  modern  engineers. 

The  most  noted  of  all  the  Roman  roads  was  the  Via  Appia, 
called  by  the  ancients  themselves  the  "  Queen  of  Roads,"  which 
ran  from  Rome  to  Capua.  It  was  built  by  Appius  Claudius 
(312  B.C.),  for  whom  it  was  named.  Afterwards  it  was  continued 
in  a  southeasterly  direction,  and  carried  across  the  peninsula  to 
Brundisium,  an  important  seaport  on  the  coast  of  Calabria, 
whence  expeditions  were  embarked  for  operations  in  the  East! 


THE   APPIAN  WAY.     (From  a  Photograph.) 

The  Flaminian  Way  ran  from  the  capital  to  Ariminum  on  the 
Adriatic,  and  thence  was  extended,  under  another  name,  north- 
ward into  the  valley  of  the  Po.  Several  other  roads,  reaching  out 
from  Rome  in  different  directions,  completed  the  communication 
of  the  capital  with  the  various  cities  and  states  of  the  peninsula. 
As  the  limits  of  the  Roman  authority  extended,  new  roads  were 
built  in  the  conquered  provinces  —  in  Sicily,  in  Northern  Africa, 


HI 


{ 


178 


AKCJIITECTURE. 


the  arena  in  retreating  steps  to  the  magnificent  portico  that 
crowned  lie  upper  circle.  Beneath  the  arena  and  seats  were 
large  chambers  designed  »  ieas  iir  lie  Wid  animals  needed  in 
the  shows.  Sockets  in  the  upper  stone-work  held  pillars  to  which 
were  fastened  the  ropes  by  means  of  which  an  immense  awning 
was  stretched  over  the  heads  of  the  spectators  to  keep  out  the 
sun  and  rain.  Fountain  jets  filled  the  air  with  perfumed  spray ; 
pieces  of  statuary,  placed  ill  «iwpl8|«»ilS  pdinis,  relieved  the 
monotony  of  the  endless  circle  of  seals ;  «iid  bright-colored  silken 
decorations  lent  a  festive  appearance  to  the  vast  auditorium. 

The  enormous  proportions  of  the  Colosseum  have  enabled  it  to 
resist  all  the  agencies  of  destruction  which  have  been  at  work 
upon  it  through  so  many  centuries.  The  crowning  colonnade  was 
destroyed  by  fire;  the  immense  wtjls  were  quarried  by  the 
builders  of  Rome  for  a  thousand  years,  and  from  them  was  taken 
material  for  the  building  of  a  multitude  of  castles,  towers,  and 
palaces,  erected  in  the  capital  during  the  Middle  Ages ;  and  for 
seventeen  hundred  years  the  tooth  of  time  has  been  busy  upon 
every  part  of  the  gigantic  structure.  Yet,  notwithstanding  all 
these  concurring  agencies  of  ruin,  Ihe  Colosseum  still  stands 
grand  and  impressive  as  at  first,  even  more  impressive  because 
of  these  marks  that  it  bears  of  violence  and  of  time.  It  rises 
before  us  as**  lie  embodiment  of  the  power  and  splendor  of  the 
empire." 

Many  of  the  most  important  cities  of  Italy  md  of  the  provinces 
were  provided  with  amphitheatres,  similar  in  all  essential  respects 
to  the  Colosseum  at  the  capital,  only  much  inferior  in  size,  save 
the  one  at  Capua,  which  was  nearly  as  'large  as  the  Flavian 
structure. 

Military  Roads. --JEliremost  among  the  works  of  utility  exe- 
cuted by  the  Romans,  tiid  the  most  expressive  of  the  spirit  of 
the  people,  were  their  military  roads.  Radiating  from  the  capital, 
they  grew  with  the  growing  empire,  until  all  the  countries  about 
the  Mediterranean  and  beyond  the  Alps  were  united  to  Rome  and 
tO:...Qiie  .another  tiya^ftrfect  iwtiwifk  of  highways  of  such  admirable 


THE  APFJAN  WAY, 


179 


construction  that  even  now,  in  their  ruined  state,  they  excite  the 
wonder  of  modern  engineers. 

The  most  noted  of  all  the  Roman  roads  was  the  Via  Appia, 
called  by  the  ancients  themselves  the  "  Queen  of  Roads,"  which 
ran  from  Rome  to  Capua.  It  was  built  by  Appius  Claudius 
(312  B.C.),  for  whom  it  was  named.  Afterwards  it  was  continued 
in  a  southeasterly  direction,  and  carried  across  the  peninsula  to 
Brundisium,  an  important  seaport  on  the  coast  of  Calabria, 
whence  expeditions  were  embarked  for  operations  in  the   East! 


THE   APPIAN  WAY.     (From  a  Photograph.) 

The  Flaminian  Way  ran  from  the  capital  to  Ariminum  on  the 
Adriatic,  and  thence  was  extended,  under  another  name,  north- 
ward into  the  valley  of  the  Po.  Several  other  roads,  reaching  out 
from  Rome  in  different  directions,  completed  the  communication 
of  the  capital  with  the  various  cities  and  states  of  the  peninsula. 
As  the  limits  of  the  Roman  authority  extended,  new  roads  were 
built  in  the  conquered  provinces  —  in  Sicily,  in  Northern  Africa, 


180 


ARCHITECTURE, 


in  Spain,  over  the  Alps,  along  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube,  through- 
out Gaul,  Britain,  Greece,  and  all  the  East. 

These  military  roads,  with  characteristic  Roman  energy  and 
disregard  of  obstacles,  were  carried  forward,  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible, in  straight  lines  and  on  a  level,  mountains  being  pierced 
with  tunnels,*  and  valleys  crossed  by  massive  viaducts.  Near 
Naples  may  be  seen  one  of  these  old  tunnels  still  in  use,  called 
the  Grotto  of  the  Posilippo,  which  is  over  half  a  mile  in  length. 
It  led  the  old  Appian  Way  through  a  hill  that  at  this  point  crossed 
its  course.  The  usual  width  of  the  roadway  was  about  thirteen 
feet;  the  bed  was  formed  of  broken  stone  and  cement,  upon 
which  was  sometimes  laid,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Via  Appia,  a 
regular  pavement  formed  of  large  blocks  of  the  hardest  stone. 
Foot-paths  often  ran  along  the  sides  of  the  main  roadway ;  mile- 
posts  told  the  distance  from  the  capital;   and   upon  the  best- 

1  In  boring  tunnels,  the  Roman  engineers  worked  simultaneously  from  both 
sides  of  the  mountain,  in  the  same  way  that  modern  engineers  do.   In  i860  an 
inscription  was  discovered  which  contains  a  curious  report  of  an  engineer  who 
had  in  charge  the  construction  of  an  aqueduct  tunnel  for  the  town  of  Saldae, 
in  Algeria.     During  his  absence  the  boring  went  awry,  and  the  ends  of  the 
sections  could  not  be  brought  together.    The  engineer  was  sent  for.     His 
report  says:  "I  found  everybody  sad  and  despondent;  they  had  given  up  all 
hopes  that  the  two  opposite  sections  of  the  tunnel  would  meet,  because  each 
section  had  already  been  excavated  beyond  the  middle  of  the  mountain,  and 
the  junction  had  not  yet  been  effected.    As  always  happens  in  these  cases,  the 
fault  was  attributed  to  the  engineer,  as  though  he  had  not  taken  all  precautions 
to  insure  the  success  of  the  work.     What  could  I  have  done  better?     I  began 
by  surveying  and  taking  the  levels  of  the  mountain;   I  marked  most  carefully 
the  axis  of  the  tunnel  across  the  ridge;   I  drew  plans  and  sections  of  the  whole 
work,  which  plans  I  handed  over  to  Petronius  Celer,  then  governor  of  Mauri- 
tania; and  to  take  extra  precaution,  I  summoned  the  contractor  and  his  work- 
men, and  began  the  excavation  in  their  presence  .  .  .     Well,  during  the  four 
years  I  was  absent  at  Lambcese,  expecting  every  day  to  hear  the  good  tidings 
of  the  arrival  of  the  waters  at  Saldae,  the  contractor  and  the  assistant  had  com- 
mitted blunder  upon  blunder;  in  each  section  of  the  tunnel  they  had  diverged 
from  the  straight  line,  each  towards  his  right,  and,  had  I  waited  a  little  longer 
before  coming,  Sakte  would  have  possessed  two  tunnels  instead  of  one."  — 
Lanciani's  Ancient  Rome  in  the  Light  of  Recent  Discoveries,  p.  61. 


THE   CLAUDIAN  AQUEDUCT, 


181 


appointed  roads  seats  were  found  disposed  at  proper  intervals 
for  the  convenience  of  travellers.  In  the  Forum  at  Rome  was  a 
gilded  post,  the  ideal  centre  of  the  empire,  and  so  of  course  of 
the  world,  from  which  distances  on  all  the  radiating  roads  were 
measured. 

Aqueducts.  — To  supply  a  great  city  with  abundant  and  whole- 
some water  is  a  matter  of  no  less  difficulty  than  importance.  All 
the  great  capitals  of  the  world,  ancient  and  modern,  have  secured 


THE   CLAUDIAN    AQUEDUCT.     (From  a  Photograph.) 

this  boon  only  by  the  most  lavish  expenditure  of  labor  and  money. 
The  kings  of  Babylon  expended  immense  labor  in  the  distribution 
of  water  through  the  gardens  and  residences  of  their  capital. 
Solomon's  greatest  work,  after  the  Temple,  was  the  cutting  of 
reservoirs  (still  existing  as  Solomon's  Pools)  for  the  collecting  of 
water,  and  the  construction  of  conduits  to  lead  the  same,  from  a 
distance  of  several  miles,  within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  But  the 
aqueducts  of  ancient  Rome  were  the  most  stupendous  construe- 


III 


im 


dRCHITECTURE. 


in  Spain,  over  the  Alps,  along  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube,  through- 
out Gaul,  Britain,  Greece,  and  all  the  East 

Tliese  military  roads,  with  characteristic  Roman  energy  and 
disregard  of  obstacles,  iw*c  Ciirled  forward,  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible, in  straight  lines  jpi  cm  a  l»d,  «i0iiiitaiiis  being  pierced 
with  tunnels,^  and  valleys  crossed  by  massive  viaducts.  Near 
Naples  may  be  seen  one  of  these  old  tunnels  still  in  use,  called 
the  Grotto  of  the  Posilippo,  which  is  over  half  a  mile  in  length. 
It  led  the  old  Appian  Way  through  a  hill  that  at  this  point  crossed 
its  course.  Tlie  iisoal  iriiii  rf  lli«:  'iDiiiWijr  was  about  thirteen 
feet;  the  bed  was  formed  of  teokcii  mm  and  cement,  upon 
which  was  sometimes  laid,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Via  Appia,  a 
regular  pavement  formed  of  large  blocks  of  the  hardest  stone. 
Foot-paths  often  ran  along  the  sides  of  the  main  roadway ;  mile- 
posts  told  the  distance  from  lie  capital;  and  upon  the  best- 

'  In  %mmg  ttltinels,  tlie  Rumiiii  enpncers  worked  simultaneously  from  both 
sides  of  the  mountain,  in  the  same  way  that  modern  engineers  (U).   In  i860  an 
inscrii>ti()n  was  discovered  \n  hich  contains  a  curi«)us  report  of  an  engineer  who 
had  in  charge  the  construction  of  an  aqueduct  tunnel  for  the  town  of  Saldie, 
in  Algeria.     During  his  absence  the  boring  went  awry,  and  the  ends  of  the 
sections  could  not  be  brought  together.     The  engineer  was  sent  for.     His 
report  says:  "I  found  everybody  sad  and  despondent;   they  had  given  up  all 
hopes  that  the  two  opposite  sections  of  the  tunnel  would  meet,  l)ecause  each 
section  had  already  been  excavated  l>eyond  the  middle  of  the  mountain,  and 
the  junction  had  not  yet  been  effected.     As  always  happens  in  these  cases,  the 
fault  was  attributed  to  the  engineer,  as  though  he  had  not  taken  all  precautions 
to  insure  the  success  of  the  work.     What  could  I  have  done  l)etter?     I  began 
by  surveying  and  taking  the  levels  of  the  mountain;   I  marked  most  carefully 
the  axis  of  the  tunnel  across  the  ridge;   I  drew  plans  and  sections  of  the  whole 
work,  which  plans  I  handed  over  to  Petronius  Celer,  then  governor  of  Mauri- 
tania;  and  to  take  extra  precaution,  I  summoned  the  contractor  and  his  work- 
men, and  l)egan  the  excavation  in  their  presence  .  .  .     Well,  during  the  four 
years  I  was  absent  at  Lamlwse,  expecting  every  day  to  hear  the  good  tidings 
of  the  arrival  of  the  waters  at  Saldac,  the  contractor  and  the  assistant  had  com- 
mitted l>lunder  upon  blunder;  in  each  section  of  the  tunnel  they  had  diverged 
from  the  straight  line,  each  towards  his  right,  and,  had  I  waited  a  little  longer 
before  coming,  Sahla-  would  have  poisessecl  two  tunnels  instead  of  one."  — 
LwJCIAM's  Ancient  Eome  in  ike  Ligki  a/Mecent  Discoveries,  p.  61. 


THE   CLAUDIAN  AQUEDUCT, 


181 


appointed  roads  seats  were  found  disposed  at  proper  intervals 
for  the  convenience  of  travellers.  In  the  Forum  at  Rome  was  a 
gilded  post,  the  ideal  centre  of  the  empire,  and  so  of  course  of 
the  world,  from  which  distances  on  all  the  radiating  roads  were 
measured. 

Aqueducts.  — To  supply  a  great  city  with  abundant  and  whole- 
some water  is  a  matter  of  no  less  difficulty  than  importance.  All 
the  great  capitals  of  the  world,  ancient  and  modern,  have  secured 


THE   CLAUDIAN    AQUEDUCT.     (From  a  Photograph.) 


this  boon  only  by  the  most  lavish  expenditure  of  labor  and  money. 
The  kings  of  Babylon  expended  immense  labor  in  the  distribution 
of  water  through  the  gardens  and  residences  of  their  capital. 
Solomon's  greatest  work,  after  the  Temple,  was  the  cutting  of 
reservoirs  (still  existing  as  Solomon's  Pools)  for  the  collecting  of 
water,  and  the  construction  of  conduits  to  lead  the  same,  from  a 
distance  of  several  miles,  within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  But  the 
aqueducts  of  ancient  Rome  were  the  most  stupendous  construe- 


182 


ARCHITECTURE. 


tions  of  this  nature  ever  executed  by  the  inhabitants  of  any  city. 
That  capital  was  probably  better  supplied  with  water  than  any 
other  great  city  of  ancient  or,  possibly,  of  modem  times.  The  old 
writers  compare  to  rivers  the  streams  that  the  aqueducts  poured 
through  its  streets. 

The  water-system  of  Rome  was  commenced  by  Appius  Claudius 
(about  313  B.C.),  who  secured  the  building  of  an  aqueduct  which 
led  water  into  the  city  from  the  Sabine  hills,  through  a  subterra- 
nean channel  eleven  miles  in  length.  From  the  spoils  obtained 
in  the  war  with  Pyrrhus  was  built  the  Anio  Aqueduct,  so  named 
because  it  brought  water  from  the  Anio  River.  A  second  aque- 
duct running  from  the  same  stream,  and  called  the  Anio  Nova, 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  older  conduit,  was  about  fifty-six  miles 
in  length.  It  ran  beneath  the  ground  until  within  about  six  miles 
of  the  city,  when  it  was  taken  up  on  arches  and  thus  carried  over 
the  low  levels  into  the  capital.  In  places  this  aqueduct  was  held 
up  more  than  a  hundred  feet  above  the  plain.  During  the  repub- 
lic four  aqueducts  were  completed ;  under  the  emperors  the  num- 
ber was  increased  to  fourteen.^ 

The  Romans  carried  their  aqueducts  across  depressions  and 
valleys  on  high  arches  of  masonry,  not  because  they  were  igno- 
rant of  the  principle  that  water  seeks  a  level,  but  for  the  reason 
that  they  could  not  make  large  pipes  strong  enough  to  resist  the 
very  great  pressure  to  which  they  would  be  subjected.^  In  some 
instances  the  principle  of  the  siphon  was  put  in  practice,  and 
pipes  (usually  lead  or  earthen)  were  laid  down  one  side  of  a 
valley  and  up  the  opposite  slope.  But  their  liability  to  accident, 
when  the  pressure  was  heavy,  as  we  have  intimated,  led  to  the 
adoption  in  general  of  the  other  method.    The  lofty  arches  of 

1  Several  of  these  are  in  use  at  the  present  day. 

2  "As  to  the  main  aqueducts,  which  supplied  Rome  with  a  daily  volume 
of  54,000,000  cubic  feet  of  water,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  substi- 
tute metal  pipes  for  channels  of  masonry,  because  the  Romans  did  not  know 
cast-iron,  and  no  pipe  except  of  cast-iron  could  have  supported  such  enormous 
pressure."  — -  Lanciani's  Ancient  Rome  in  the  Light  0/ Recent  Discoveries,  p.  60. 


THE R MM,    OR  BATHS. 


183 


the  ruined  aqueducts  that  run  in  long  broken  lines  over  the  plains 
beyond  the  walls  of  Rome  are  described  by  all  visitors  to  the  old 
capital  as  the  most  striking  feature  of  the  desolate  Campagna. 

Thermae,  or  Baths. — The  greatest  demand  upon  the  streams 

of  water    poured    into    Rome   by  the  aqueducts  was  made   by 

the   Thermae,  or  baths.^     Among  the  ancient  Romans,  bathing, 

regarded  at  first  simply  as  a  troublesome   necessity,  became   in 

time  a  luxurious  art.     During  the  republic,  batKing-houses  were 

erected   in  considerable   numbers,   the   use   of  which  could  be 

purchased  by  a  small  entrance  fee  equivalent  to  about  one  cent 

of  our  money.     Towards  the  end  of  the  republic,  when  bathing 

had  already  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  luxury,  ambitious  politicians, 

anxious  to  gain  the  favor  of  the  masses,  would  secure  a  free  day 

for  them  at  the  baths.     But  it  was  during  the  imperial  period  that 

those   magnificent    structures    to   which   the   name    of   Thermce 

properly  attaches,  were  erected.    Nero,  Titus,  Trajan,  Commodus, 

Caracalla,  Decius,  Constantine,  and  Diocletian,  all  erected  splendid 

thermae,  which,  as  they  were  intended  to  exhibit  the  liberality  of 

their  builders,  were  thrown  open  to  the  public  free  of  charge. 

These  edifices  were  very  different  affairs  from  the  bathing-houses 

of  the  republican  era.     Those  raised  by  the  emperors  were  among 

the  most  elaborate  and  expensive  of  the  imperial  works.     They 

contained  chambers  for  cold,  tepid,  hot,  sudatory,  and  swimming 

baths;  dressing-rooms   and  gymnasia;   museums  and   hbraries ; 

covered    colonnades   for   loitering   and    conversation;   extensive 

grounds  filled  with  statues  and  traversed  by  pleasant  walks ;  and 

every   other  adjunct  that  could  add  to  the  sense  of  luxury  and 

relaxation.^    The  pavements  were  frequently  set  with  the  richest 

^  Vast  quantities  of  water  were  also  absorbed  by  the  fountains,  of  which 
Rome  is  said  to  have  had  a  larger  number  than  any  other  city  of  the  world  in 
any  age.  M.  Agrippa,  the  builder  of  the  Pantheon,  is  credited  with  having 
set  up  105,  and  his  example  found  many  imitators. 

2  Lanciani  very  aptly  calls  these  imperial  thermse  "  gigantic  club-houses, 
whither  the  voluptuary  and  the  elegant  youth  repaired  for  pastime  and  enjoy- 
ment." 


184 


ARCHITECTURE. 


PALACES  AND    VILLAS, 


185 


mosaics.  The  Thermae  of  Diocletian  contained  over  three  thou- 
sand  of  these  stone  pictures.  Caracalla's  Baths  had  over  sixteen 
hundred  marble  seats ;  granite  pillars  from  Egypt  decorated  the 
colonnades ;  green  marble  panelUngs,  cut  in  Numidia,  lined  many 
of  the  chambers ;  the  fixtures  of  the  baths  were  plated,  and  in 
some  of  the  rooms  were  of  soUd  silver.  Some  conception  of  the 
stupendous  size  of  this  structure  may  be  gained  from  the  fact  that 
the  entrance  hall,  or  rotunda,  of  the  building  was  almost  as  large 
as  the  celebrated  Pantheon,  which  it  resembled  in  form. 

It  was  not  the  inhabitants  of  the  capital  alone  that  had  con- 
verted bathing  into  a  luxury  and  an  art.  There  was  no  town  of 
any  considerable  size  anywhere  within  the  limits  of  the  empire 
that  was  not  provided  with  its  thermae;  and  wherever  springs 
possessing  medicinal  qualities  broke  from  the  ground,  there  arose 
magnificent  baths,  and, such  spots  became  the  favorite  watering- 
places  of  the  Romans.  Thus  Baden-Baden  was  a  noted  and 
luxurious  resort  of  the  wealthy  Romans  centuries  before  it  be- 
came the  great  summer  haunt  of  the  Germans.  Baiae,  near 
Naples,  on  account  of  its  warm  sulphur  springs  and  the  beauty 
of  its  surroundings,  became  crowded  with  the  pleasure-seekers 
of  the  capital.  These  bathing-towns,  as  was  almost  inevitable, 
acquired  an  unenviable  reputation  as  hotbeds  of  vice  and  shame- 
less indulgence. 

All  the  Roman  thermae,  after  suffering  repeated  spoliation 
at  the  hands  of  successive  robbers,  have  sunk  into  great  heaps 
of  rubbish.  Many  of  their  beautiful  marbles  were  carried  off 
by  different  Greek  emperors  to  Constantinople.  Charlemagne 
decorated  his  palace  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  with  columns  torn  from 
these  imperial  structures,  which  were  then  falling  into  dilapida- 
tion at  Rome.  The  popes  built  others  into  St.  Peter's  Cathe- 
dral ;  and  the  masons  of  Rome,  like  the  brick-hunters  of  Baby- 
lon and  Nineveh,  for  centuries  mined  amidst  the  vast  heaps 
of  the  ruined  structures  for  marble  blocks  and  statues,  to  be 
burned  into  lime  for  making  cement.     Modern  excavations  have 


recovered  from  the  mounds  of  rubbish  some  of  the  most  famous 
of  the  sculptures  that  are  to  be  found  in  the  museums  of  Europe. 

Palaces  and  Villas. — The  residences  of  the  wealthy  Romans 
when  built  within  the  city  walls  were  called  mansions  or  pal- 
aces, but  when  located  in  the  country  were  usually  designated 
as  villas.  The  Palatine  was  the  aristocratic  quarter  of  Rome, 
being  occupied  by  the  homes  of  the  wealthy  class.  After  the 
Great  Fire,  Nero  erected  here  his  Golden  House,  whose  various 
buildings,  courts,  gardens,  vineyards,  fish-ponds,  and  other  in- 
numerable appendages,  spread  over  much  of  the  burnt  district. 
It  was  '*the  most  stupendous  dwelling-place,"  declares  Inge,  "ever 
built  for  a  mortal  man."  The  central  building  upon  the  Palatine, 
shorn  of  its  extensive  grounds  and  useless  adjuncts,  became  the 
residence  of  most  of  the  emperors  who  held  the  throne  after  the 
death  of  Nero. 

Among  the  villas  frequently  mentioned  by  the  old  writers  are 
those  of  Scipio,  Metellus,  Lucullus,  Cicero,  Hortensius,  PHny, 
Horace,  Virgil,  Hadrian,  and  Diocletian.  But  to  attempt  enu- 
meration would  be  misleading.  Every  wealthy  Roman  possessed 
his  villa,  and  many  affected  to  keep  up  several  in  different  parts 
of  Italy.  These  country  residences,  while  retaining  the  elegance 
and  all  the  conveniences  of  the  city  palace,  —  baths,  museums, 
and  libraries,  —  added  to  these  such  adjuncts  as  were  denied  a 
place  by  the  restricted  room  of  the  capital,  —  extensive  gardens, 
aviaries,  fish-ponds,  vineyards,  olive  orchards,  shaded  walks,  and 
well-kept  drives. 

Perhaps  the  most  noted  of  Roman  villas  was  that  of  Hadrian  at 
Tibur,  now  Tivoli.  It  was  intended  to  be  a  miniature  representa- 
tion of  the  world  —  both  the  upper  and  the  lower.  There  were 
theatres,  baths,  and  temples  of  rare  workmanship.  In  one  part 
of  the  grounds  were  reproduced  the  Thessalian  Vale  of  Tempe 
and  other  celebrated  bits  of  scenery.  Subterranean  labyrinths 
enabled  the  visitor  to  make  an  ^nean  descent  into  Hades,  and  a 
journey  amidst  the  scenes  of  the  dolorous  region.^ 

1  Guhl  and  Koner's  Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans^  p.  372. 


186 


ARCHITECTURE, 


SEPULCHRAL  MONUMENTS. 


187 


Within  the  ruined  enclosure  of  the  villa  of  Diocletian  —  the  em- 
peror who  gave  up  imperial  cares  to  raise  vegetables  at  Salona,  on 
the  Adriatic  —  are  crowded  the  buildings  of  the  little  modem 
village  of  Spalatro. 

Triumphal  Colunms  and  Arches. —Among  all  peoples,  what- 
ever be  their  place  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  we  find  an  instinct 


ARCH   OF   CONSTANTINE. 

or  sentiment  which  prompts  them  to  endeavor  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  important  events  in  their  history  by  means  of  com- 
memorative monuments.  When  Jacob,  upon  the  spot  where  he 
had  dreamed,  set  up  a  stone  for  a  pillar  and  poured  oil  upon  the 
top  of  it,  he  simply  obeyed  that  universal  impulse  which  has  given 
to  the  world  the  grand  lettered  obelisks  of  the  Pharaohs,  destined, 
seemingly,  to  stand  as  long  as  the  world  shall  endure,  and  the 
imposing  sculptured  columns  of  the  Romans,  to  some  of  which 


seems  to  have  been  granted  the  immortality  of  the  Egyptian  mon- 
uments. 

The  first  historic  column  raised  by  the  Romans  was  erected  in 
the  year  261  B.C.,  to  commemorate  their  first  naval  victory,  gained 
by  DuilHus  over  the  Carthaginian  fleet.  It  was  decorated  with 
the  brazen  prows  of  the  broken  and  captured  ships  of  the  enemy 
(see  p.  47).  Trajan's  Column,  built  to  commemorate  the  Da- 
cian  victories  of  that  emperor,  is  a  remarkable  work.  It  is  still 
standing  in  an  almost  perfect  state  of  preservation.  It  is  over  one 
hundred  feet  in  height,  and  is  pictured  from  base  to  summit  with 
representations  of  battles  and  various  scenes  illustrative  of  Trajan's 
Dacian  campaigns  (see  p.  136). 

The  triumphal  arches  of  the  Romans  were  modelled  after  the 
city  gates,  being  constructed  with  single  and  with  triple  archways. 
Two  of  the  most  noted  monuments  of  this  character,  and  the  most 
interesting  because  of  their  historic  connections,  are  the  Arch  of 
Titus  and  the  Arch  of  Constantine,  both  of  which  are  still  standing. 
Upon  the  former  are  represented  the  articles  brought  from  Jerusa- 
lem by  Titus  as  the  spoils  of  the  war  against  the  Jews  (see  p.  133). 
The  Arch  of  Constantine  was  intended  to  commemorate  the  vic- 
tory of  that  emperor  over  Maxentius,  which  event  established 
Christianity  as  the  imperial  and  favored  religion  of  the  empire. 

Sepulchral  Monuments. — The  Romans  in  the  earliest  times 
seem  to  have  usually  buried  their  dead;  but  towards  the  close 
of  the  republican  period  cremation,  or  burning,  became  common. 
When  Christianity  took  possession  of  the  empire,  the  doctrine  ot 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead  which  it  taught  caused  inhumation, 
or  burying,  again  to  become  the  prevalent  mode. 

The  favorite  burying-place  among  the  Romans  was  along  the 
highways  ;  the  Appian  Way  was  lined  with  sepulchral  monuments 
for  a  distance  of  several  miles  from  the  gates  of  the  capital  (see 
cut  on  p.  1 79) .  Many  of  these  are  still  standing.  These  memorial 
structures  were  as  varied  in  design  as  are  the  monuments  in  our 
modem  cemeteries.  Shafts,  broken  columns,  altars,  pyramids, 
and  chapels  were  oft-recurring  forms. 


186 


ARCHITECTURE. 


Within  the  imiiled  enclosure  of  the  villa  of  Diocletian  —  the  em- 
peror who  gave  up  imperial  cares  to  raise  vegetables  at  Salona,  on 
the  Adriatic  —  are  crowded  the  buildings  of  the  little  modern 
village  of  Spalatro. 

Triumphal  Columns  and  Arches.  —  Among  all  peoples,  what- 
ever be  their  place  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  we  find  an  instinct 


ARCH    OF   CONSTANTINE. 


or  sentiment  which  prompts  them  to  endeavor  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  important  events  m  their  history  by  means  of  com- 
memorative monuments.  When  Jacob,  upon  the  spot  where  he 
had  dreamed,  set  up  a  stone  for  a  pillar  and  poured  oil  upon  the 
top  of  it,  he  simply  obeyed  that  universal  impulse  which  has  given 
to  the  world  the  grand  lettered  obelisks  of  the  Pharaohs,  destined, 
seemingly,  to  stand  m  long  as  the  world  shall  endure,  and  the 
imposing  sculptured  columns  of  the  Romans,  to  some  of  which 


SEPULCHRAL  MONUMENTS. 


187 


seems  to  have  been  granted  the  immortality  of  the  Egyptian  mon- 
uments. 

The  first  historic  column  raised  by  the  Romans  was  erected  in 
the  year  261  B.C.,  to  commemorate  their  first  naval  victory,  gained 
by  Duillius  over  the  Carthaginian  fleet.  It  was  decorated  with 
the  brazen  prows  of  the  broken  and  captured  ships  of  the  enemy 
(see  p.  47).  Trajan's  Column,  bnilt  to  commemorate  the  Da- 
cian  victories  of  that  emperor,  is  a  remarkable  work.  It  is  still 
standing  in  an  almost  perfect  state  of  preservation.  It  is  over  one 
hundred  feet  in  height,  and  is  pictured  from  base  to  summit  with 
representations  of  battles  and  various  scenes  illustrative  of  Trajan's 
Dacian  campaigns  (^see  p.  136). 

The  triumphal  arches  of  the  Romans  were  modelled  after  the 
city  gates,  being  constructed  with  single  and  with  triple  archways. 
Two  of  the  most  noted  monuments  of  this  character,  and  the  most 
interesting  because  of  their  historic  connections,  are  the  Arch  of 
Titus  and  the  Arch  of  Constantine,  both  of  which  are  still  standing. 
Upon  the  former  are  represented  the  articles  brought  from  Jerusa- 
lem by  Titus  as  the  spoils  of  the  war  against  the  Jews  (see  p.  133). 
The  Arch  of  Constantine  was  intended  to  commemorate  the  vic- 
tory of  that  emperor  over  Maxentius,  which  event  established 
Christianity  as  the  imperial  and  favored  religion  of  the  empire. 

Sepulchral  Monuments. —The  Romans  in  the  earliest  times 
seem  to  have  usually  buried  their  dead;  but  towards  the  close 
of  the  republican  period  cremation,  or  burning,  became  common. 
When  Christianity  took  possession  of  the  empire,  the  doctrine  ot 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead  which  it  taught  caused  inhumation, 
or  burying,  again  to  become  the  prevalent  mode. 

The  favorite  burying-place  among  the  Romans  was  along  the 
highways ;  the  Appian  Way  was  lined  with  sepulchral  monuments 
for  a  distance  of  several  miles  from  the  gates  of  the  capital  (see 
cut  on  p.  179).  Many  of  these  are  still  standing.  These  memorial 
structures  were  as  varied  in  design  as  are  the  monuments  in  our 
modern  cemeteries.  Shafts,  broken  columns,  altars,  pyramids, 
and  chapels  were  oft-recurring  forms. 


188 


LITERATURE,  PHILOSOPHY,  AND  LAW, 


THE  PERIOD    OF  LITERARY  ACTIVITY. 


189 


Two  sepulchral  edifices  of  the  imperial  era  deserve  special 
notice.  One  of  these  was  raised  by  Augustus  as  a  tomb  and 
monument  for  himself  and  his  successors.  It  stood  close  to  the 
banks  of  the  Tiber,  and  consisted  of  an  enormous  circular  tower 
raised  upon  a  massive  square  substructure.  A  century  later,  this 
sepulchre  having  become  filled,  Hadrian  constructed  a  similar 
monument,  which  was  richer,  however,  in  marbles  and  sculptures, 
upon  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Tiber.  This  structure  was  called^ 
after  the  emperor,  the  Mole,  or  Mausoleum,  of  Hadrian.  It  is 
now  used  as  a  military  fortress  under  the  name  of  the  Castle  of 
St.  Angelo.  The  massive  structure,  battered  by  many  sieges  and 
assaults  and  decayed  through  lapse  of  time,  presents,  next  after 
the  Colosseum,  the  most  imposing  appearance  of  any  of  the  mon- 
uments of  the  ancient  Romans. 

LrTERATURE,    PHILOSOPHY,   AND    Law. 

Literature  among  the  Eomans.  — The  literary  or  purely  in- 
tellectual life  of  the  Romans  was  in  every  way  far  inferior  to  that 
of  the  Greeks.  The  old  conquerors  of  the  world  were  too  prac- 
tical a  race  — were  too  much  absorbed  in  the  business  of  war  and 
government  —  to  find  much  time  to  pay  devotion  to  the  Muses,  or 
to  pursue  with  much  earnestness  those  philosophical  speculations 
which  were  so  congenial  to  the  Attic  intellect.^  All  the  national 
aims  and  pursuits  of  this  martial  race  trained  their  ear  to  catch 
more  music  in  the  tread  of  legions  than  in  the  sweetest  cadences 
of  the  poet's  verse.  Their  very  amusements  tended  to  the  same 
end  as  did  their  more  serious  employments.  The  stem  real  trag- 
edies of  the  amphitheatre  rendered  tame  the  mock  tragedies  of 
the  stage.  The  inspiration  and  encouragement  of  popular  appre- 
ciation and  applause,  which  raised  the  tragic  drama  to  such  lofty 
excellence  at  Athens,  were  almost  wholly  wanting  at  Rome. 

*  "The  deepest  and  ultimate  reason  of  the  diversity  between  the  two  nations 
lay  beyond  doubt  in  the  fact  that  Latium  did  not,  and  that  Hellas  did,  during 
the  season  of  growth  come  into  contact  with  the  East."  —  Mommsen. 


Therefore,  in  the  brief  examination  which  we  now  purpose  to 
make  of  Latin  literature,  we  must  not  expect  to  discover  such  worth 
and  genius  as  distinguish  the  intellectual  productions  of  the  Hel- 
lenic race  ;  still  we  shall  find  the  literary  memorials  of  the  Roman 
people  possessing  so  many  eminent  qualities  and  so  much  merit 
that  we  shall  acknowledge  they  are  justly  assigned  a  prominent, 
though  not  the  foremost,  place  among  the  literary  treasures  of  the 
world. 

The  Period  of  Literary  Activity.  —  It  was  only  the  last  two 
centuries  of  the  republic  and  the  first  of  the  empire  —  only  three 
centuries  in  all  —  that  were  marked  by  the  literary  activity  and 
productiveness  of  the  Latin  intellect.  The  first  five  centuries  of 
Roman  history  are  almost  barren  of  ITterary  monuments.  But  in 
the  third  century  B.C.,  under  the  fostering  influences  of  the  repub- 
lic, literature  began  to  spring  up  and  to  flourish,  and  by  the  time 
of  the  establishment  of  the  empire,  had  reached  its  fullest  and 
richest  development ;  then,  upon  the  fall  of  the  institutions  of  the 
republican  era,  it  soon  begun  to  languish,  and  survived  the  death 
of  freedom  barely  a  single  century.  The  last  four  hundred  years 
of  the  imperial  era  exhibit  the  name  of  scarcely  a  single  writer  of 
vigor  and  originality. 

We  here  learn  how  depressing  and  withering  are  the  influences 
of  a  capricious  and  irresponsible  despotism,  which  forbids  all 
freedom  and  truthfulness,  upon  the  intellectual  and  literary  life  of 
a  people.  Literature  is  a  plant  that  thrives  best  in  the  free  air  of  a 
republic.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  some  of  the  choicest  fruit  of  the 
Latin  intellect  ripened  during  the  first  years  of  the  empire ;  but 
this  had  been  long  maturing  under  the  influences  of  the  republican 
period,  and  should  properly  be  credited  to  that  era.  Besides,  the 
evil  tendencies  of  the  unlimited  monarchy  had  not  yet  manifested 
themselves  under  Augustus;  still,  even  during  the  reign  of  that 
emperor,  Ovid,  one  of  the  brightest  minds  of  the  period,  was 
exiled,  without  any  reason  being  assigned  for  the  act,  to  the  bar- 
barous shores  of  the  Euxine.  But  the  conduct  of  the  despot 
Nero  will  better  illustrate  what  we  have  affirmed.    That  tyrant 


190 


LITERATURE,  PHILOSOPHY,  AND  LAW. 


|i|i 


was  on  the  point  of  burning  every  copy  of  the  Iliad  and  of  the 
jEneid,  because,  in  the  imperial  judgment,  Homer  had  no  taste, 
and  Virgil  was  without  genius.  Wha't  shall  literature  do  under 
such  censorship  ? 

Eelation  of  Eoman  to  Greek  Literature.  —  Latin  literature  was 
almost  wholly  imitative  or  borrowed,  being  a  reproduction  of 
Greek  models;  still  it  performed  a  most  important  service  for 
civilization :  it  was  the  medium  for  the  dissemination  throughout 
the  world  of  the  rich  literary  treasures  of  Greece. 

In  order  to  realize  the  greatness  of  its  work  and  influence,  we 
must  bear  in  mind  that  the  spread  of  the  Latin  tongue  was  coex- 
tensive with  the  conquests   of  Rome.    The   subjugated  nations, 
with  the  laws  of  their  conquerors,  received  also  their  language. 
In  those  countries  where  the  subjected  peoples  were  inferior  in 
civilization  to  the  Romans,  the  language  of  the  conquerors  came 
into   general  use.     Such  was  the  condition  of  all  the  nations  in 
the  West.     Italy,  Spain,  Gaul,  and  Northern  Africa  became  so 
thoroughly  Romanized  before  the  overthrow  of  the  empire  that 
the  Latin  tongue,  much  corrupted  of  course   from   the  classical 
forms  of  the  capital,  came  into  universal  use  among  all  classes. 
It  was  somewhat  different  in  the  East,  where  the  Hellenic  language 
and  culture  had  been  spread.     The  speech  of  Rome  never  suc- 
ceeded in  crowding  out  the  Greek  language  as  it  pushed  aside 
and  displaced  the  various  rude   and   barbarous   dialects   of  the 
tribes  of  Western  Europe.     Yet  throughout  all  the  Eastern  prov- 
inces the  Roman  tongue  became  the  speech  of  the  ruling  class, 
and  was  understood  and  very  generally  employed  by  men  of 
education  and  social  position. 

We  see,  then,  how  very  extended  was  the  audience  addressed 
by  the  Roman  writers.  The  works  of  the  Latin  poets  and  his- 
torians were  read  everywhere  within  the  limits  of  the  Roman 
empire,  and  that  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  they  circulated 
throughout  the  civilized  world.  And  wherever  Latin  literature 
found  its  way  there  were  scattered  broadcast  the  seeds  of  Grecian 
culture,  science,  and  philosophy.      The  relation  of   Rome  to 


■ 


LAYS  AND  BALLADS   OF  LEGENDARY  AGE. 


191 


Greece  was  exactly  the  same  as  that  of  Phoenicia  to  Egypt,  as 
expressed  by  Lenormant :  Greece  was  the  mother  of  modern 
civilization  ;  Rome  was  its  missionary. 

Lays  and  Ballads  of  the  Legendary  Age.  —  The  period  em- 
braced between  the  eighth  and  fourth  centuries  B.C.  may  properly 
be  called  the  Heroic  Age  of  Rome.  It  corresponds  exactly,  in  its 
literary  products,  to  the  similarly  designated  period  in  Grecian 
history.  During  this  early  age  there  sprang  up  a  great  number  of 
hymns,  ballads,  or  lays,  of  which  the  merest  fragments  survived 
the  varying  fortunes  of  the  state,  and  were  preserved  in  the  works 
of  the  later  writers  of  the  republic.  "The  fabulous  birth  of 
Romulus,  the  rape  of  the  Sabine  women,  the  most  poetical  com- 
bat of  the  Horatii  and  Curiatii,  the  pride  of  Tarquin,  the  misfor- 
tunes and  death  of  Lucretia,  the  establishment  of  liberty  by  the 
elder  Brutus,  the  wonderful  war  with  Porsenna,  the  steadfast- 
ness of  Scaevola,  the  banishment  of  Coriolanus,  the  war  which  he 
kindled  against  his  country,  the  subsequent  struggle  of  his  feelings, 
and  the  final  triumph  of  his  patriotism  at  the  all-powerful  interces- 
sion of  his  mother  —  these  and  the  like  circumstances,  if  they  be 
examined  from  the  proper  point  of  view,  cannot  fail  to  be  consid- 
ered as  relics  and  fragments  of  the  ancient  heroic  traditions  and 
heroic  poems  of  the  Romans."  ^ 

These  stories  must  be  placed  along  with  the  Grecian  tales  of 
Cadmus  and  Theseus,  of  the  Argonautic  Expedition  and  the 
Trojan  War.  They  belong  to  the  literary,  and  not  to  the  historical, 
annals  of  the  Roman  people.  They  may  be  made  use  of  for  his- 
torical purposes,  but  only  in  the  same  way  that  the  poems  of 
Homer  are  used.  The  references  and  allusions  they  contain  throw 
light  upon  the  manners,  customs,  and  modes  of  thinking  of  the 
remote  times  in  which  they  grew  up.  The  few  threads  of  fact 
that  may  be  drawn  from  them  have  been  woven  into  the  picture 
which,  in  a  previous  chapter,  we  attempted  to  form  of  the  early 
Roman  state. 

1  Schlegel,  in  Lectures  on  Literature,  as  quoted  by  Dunlop  in  History  of 
Roman  Literature,  vol.  i.  p.  41. 


i 


192 


UTERATURE,  PHUOSOPHY,  AND  LAW, 


■I 


The  Roman  Dramatists.  —  From  the  earliest  times  Rome  was 
under  the  influence  of  Grecian  civilization,  as  is  shown  in  the 
laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables ;  but  the  conquest  of  the  Hellenic 
cities  of  Southern  Italy  as  the  outcome  of  the  war  with  Pyrrhus, 
and  the  acquisition  of  Sicily  as  the  result  of  the  First  Punic  War, 
brought  the  Romans  into  much  closer  relations  than  had  hitherto 
existed  with  the  arts  and  culture  of  the  Greeks.  The  Romans 
now  began  to  study  with  much  appreciation,  and  not  without 
profit,  the  rich  stores  of  Greek  literature  opened  to  them.  Among 
the  leading  famiUes  of  Rome,  it  became  the  fashion  to  commit 
the  education  of  children  to  Greek  slaves.  The  conqueror  bows 
at  the  feet  of  the  conquered.  The  intellectual  sway  of  Athens 
over  Rome  becomes  not  less  complete  and  despotic  than  the 
political  sway  of  Rome  over  Athens.  The  debt  incurred  by  the 
Romans  in  all  intellectual  and  literary  matters  to  the  Greeks  has 
been  declared  to  be  but  faintly  paralleled  by  that  incurred  by 
the  English  in  theology,  philosophy,  and  music  to  Germany.* 
"Their  [the  Romans']  genius,  I  believe,"  says  Dunlop,  "would 
have  remained  unproductive  and  cold  half  a  century  longer,  had 
it  not  been  kindled  by  contact  with  a  warm,  polished,  and  ani- 
mated nation,  whose  compositions  could  not  be  read  without 
enthusiasm  or  imitated  without  advantage."  ^ 

It  was  the  dramatic  productions  of  the  Greeks  which  were  first 
copied  and  studied  by  the  Romans.  Translations  for  the  stage, 
particularly  those  of  a  comic  character,  were  received  with  great 
favor,  and  the  theatre  became  the  popular  resort  of  all  classes. 
For  nearly  two  centuries,  from  240  B.C.  to  78  B.C.,  dramatic  litera- 
ture was  almost  the  only  form  of  composition  cultivated  at  Rome. 
During  this  epoch  appeared  all  the  great  dramatists  ever  produced 
by  the  Latin- speaking  race.  Of  these  we  may  name,  for  brief 
mention,  Livius  Andronicus,  Naevius,  Ennius,  Plautus,  and  Ter- 
rence.     All  of  these  writers  were  close  imitators  of  Greek  authors, 


*  Crutt well's  History  of  Roman  Literature ^  p.  36. 
^  Dunlop's  History  of  Roman  Literaturct  vol.  i.  p.  55. 


THE  ROMAN  DRAMATISTS, 


193 


and  most  of  their  works  were  simply  adaptations  or  translations  of 
the  masterpieces  of  the  Greek  dramatists. 

Livius  Andronicus,  who  lived  about  the  middle  of  the  third  cen- 
tury B.C.,  was  probably  a  Greek  prisoner  carried  to  Rome  from 
some  city  of  Magna  Grsecia.  He  was  the  father  of  the  Roman 
drama.  He  transformed  the  mimic  dances,  which  had  been  in- 
troduced at  Rome  by  Etruscan  actors  about  a  century  before  his 
time  (in  364  B.C.),  into  a  real  dramatic  representation,  by  adding 
to  the  performance  dialogues  to  be  recited  by  the  actors.  He  was 
the  performer  of  his  own  pieces,  and  was  so  often  recalled  by  his 
admirers  that  he  overtaxed  and  lost  his  voice.  After  this  misfor- 
tune befell  him,  he  employed  a  boy  to  declaim  those  parts  of  the 
dialogue  which  required  to  be  rendered  in  a  high  tone,  while  he 
himself  played  the  flute,  recited  the  less  declamatory  passages, 
and  accompanied  the  whole  with  the  proper  gesticulation.  This 
mode  of  representation,  which  Livius  had  been  constrained  to 
adopt  through  accident,  afterwards  became  the  fashion  in  the 
Roman  theatres ;  and  the  plays  were  usually  presented  by  two 
persons,  one  reciting  the  words  and  the  other  accompanying 
them  with  the  appropriate  gestures. 

Naevius,  who  wrote  about  the  close  of  the  third  century  B.C., 
was  the  first  native-born  Roman  poet  of  eminence.  His  works 
were  translations  from  various  Greek  dramatists.  He  imitated 
Aristophanes ;  and  as  the  latter  lashed  the  corrupt  politicians  of 
Athens,  so  did  the  former  expose  to  ridicule  and  contempt  differ- 
ent members  of  the  leading  patrician  families  at  Rome.  He  did 
not  escape  with  impunity ;  for  he  was  once  in  prison,  and  finally 
died  an  exile  at  Utica  or  Cathage  (about  204  b.c).  Naevius  bore 
part  as  a  soldier  in  the  First  Punic  War,  and  he  found  solace 
during  the  years  of  his  exile  in  writing  in  epic  verse  the  events  of 
that  stirring  time. 

Ennius,  a  contemporary  of  Naevius,  was  an  epic  as  well  as  a 
dramatic  writer.  The  greatest  work  from  his  prolific  pen  was  the 
Annalsy  an  epic  poem  recounting  in  graceful  and  vigorous  verse 
the  story  of  Rome  from  the  times  of  the  kings  to  his  own  day. 


m 


ill 


194 


LITERATURE,  PHILOSOPHY,  AND  LAW. 


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Had  Virgil  never  lived,  Ennius  must  always  have  been  named  as 
the  greatest  epic  poet  produced  by  the  Roman  race ;  and  the 
fragments  of  his  Annals  which  still  survive  would  be  carefully  pre- 
served as  the  remains  of  the  Roman  Iliad.  For  two  centuries, 
until  the  advent  of  the  Augustan  poets,  the  works  of  Ennius  held 
almost  supreme  sway  over  the  Roman  mind.  His  verses  were 
constantly  rehearsed  in  the  theatres;  they  were  committed  to 
memory  by  the  Roman  youth,  were  quoted  by  the  orator,  and 
borrowed  by  the  poet.  Virgil  acknowledged  Ennius  as  his  master 
by  becoming  a  diligent  student  of  his  works,  and  by  transcribing 
word  for  word  many  of  his  most  beautiful  passages. 

Plautus  (254-184  B.C.)  and  Terence  (195-161  B.C.)  were  writers 
of  comedy,  who  won  a  fame  that  has  not  yet  perished.  Plautus 
adapted  various  Greek  plays  to  the  Roman  stage,  corrupting  all 
the  pieces  he  touched  with  low  wit  and  drollery,  in  order  to  catch 
the  ear  of  the  lower  classes  that  thronged  the  theatres.  His  plays 
reproduced  before  the  inhabitants  of  the  capital  the  cornipt  life 
of  the  East,  whose  debasing  influences  were  at  this  time  beginning 
to  effect  a  lowering  of  the  tone  of  society  at  Rome.  Terence 
wrote  more  for  the  cultured  classes,  and  did  not  stoop  to  employ 
those  means  by  which  Plautus  secured  the  applause  of  his  audi- 
ences. All  of  the  six  comedies  which  Terence  wrote  were  either 
translations  or  adaptations  from  the  Greek.  As  Plautus  and  Terence 
borrowed  from  the  Greek  stage,  so  have  all  modem  writers  of 
comedy  —  Italian,  French,  and  English  —  drawn  freely  from  these 
their  great  Roman  predecessors.^ 

*  •*  *  The  earliest  writers,'  as  has  justly  been  remarked,  *  took  possession  of 
the  most  striking  objects  for  description,  and  the  most  probable  occurrences 
for  fiction,  and  left  nothing  to  those  that  followed  but  transcriptions  of  the 
same  events,  and  new  combinations  of  the  same  images'  l^Rasscias],  The 
great  author  from  whom  these  reflections  are  quoted  had  at  one  time  actually 
projected  a  work  to  show  how  small  a  quantity  of  invention  there  is  in  the 
world,  and  that  the  same  images  and  incidents,  with  little  variation,  have 
served  all  the  authors  who  have  ever  written.  Had  he  prosecuted  his  inten- 
tion, he  would  have  found  the  notion  he  entertained  fully  confirmed  by  the 
history  both  of  dramatic  and  romantic  fiction ;   he  would  have  perceived  the 


POETS   OF  THE  LATER  REPUBLICAN  ERA. 


195 


Poets  of  the  Later  Bepublican  Era.  —  In  the  year  146  b.c, 
Corinth  in  Greece  was  destroyed,  the  treasures  of  its  museums 
and  the  rolls  of  its  libraries  were  carried  to  Italy,  and  Roman 
authority  became  supreme  throughout  Greece.  The  impulse  that 
had  been  given  to  the  study  of  Greek  models  by  the  conquest  of 
Magna  Graecia  more  than  one  hundred  years  before  was  now 
intensified  and  strengthened.  But  with  the  introduction  of  the 
learning  and  refinement  of  the  conquered  states  came  also  the 
luxuries  and  vices  of  the  East.  Just  at  this  time,  evoked,  it  would 
seem,  by  the  shameless  extravagances  and  corruptions  that  invited 
rebuke,  appeared  Lucilius  (born  148  B.C.),  one  of  the  greatest 
of  Roman  satirists.  The  later  satirists  of  the  corrupt  imperial  era 
were  the  imitators  of  the  repubhcan  poet. 

Besides  Lucilius,  there  appeared  during  the  later  republican  era 
only  two  other  poets  of  distinguished  merit,  —  Lucretius  and 
Catullus.  Both  were  born  early  in  the  last  century  before  Christ. 
Lucretius  studied  at  Athens,  where  he  became  deeply  imbued 
with  the  doctrines  of  the  Epicurean  philosophy,  which  at  that 
time  was  in  the  ascendant  at  the  Attic  capital.  He  left  behind 
him  but  a  single  work,  entitled  De  Re  rum  Natura  —  ("On  the 
Nature  of  Things  ").  Lucretius  was  a  thorough  evolutionist,  and 
in  his  great  poem  we  find  anticipated  many  of  the  conclusions  of 
modern  scientists.  He  pictures  Chaos  with  more  than  Miltonic 
power ;  tells  how  the  worlds  were  formed  by  a  "  fortuitous  con- 
course of  atoms " ;  relates  how  the  generations  of  life  were 
evolved  by  the  teeming  earth ;  ridicules  the  superstitions  of  his 
countrymen,  declaring  that  the  gods  do  not  trouble  themselves 
with  earthly  affairs,  but  that  storms,  lightning,  volcanoes,  and 
pestilences  are  produced  by  natural  causes,  and  not  by  the  anger 


incapacity  of  the  most  active  and  fertile  imagination  greatly  to  diversify 
the  common  characters  and  incidents  of  life,  which,  on  a  superficial  view,  one 
might  suppose  to  be  susceptible  of  infinite  combinations;  he  would  have  found 
that,  while  Plautus  and  Terence  servilely  copied  from  the  Greek  dramatists, 
even  Ariosto  scarcely  diverged  in  his  comedies  from  the  paths  of  Plautus." 
—  DuNLOP's  History  of  Roman  Literature,  Preface,  p.  xix. 


1% 


LITERATURE,  PMILQSOFHY,  AND  LAW, 


H|:l 


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f 


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of  the  celestials ;  and  finally  reaches  the  conclusion  that  death 
ends  all  for  the  human  soul.  Lucretius  is  studied  more  by  mod- 
em scholars,  whose  discoveries  and  theories  he  so  marvellously 
anticipated,  than  he  was  by  the  Romans  of  his  own  time. 

Catullus  was  a  poet  the  beauty  and  sweetness  of  whose  verses 
are  winning  to  their  study  at  the  present  day  many  ardent 
admirers.  He  was  bom  87  b.c.,  and  died  at  the  age  of  about 
forty.  He  complains  of  poverty;  yet  he  kept  two  villas,  and 
found  means  to  indulge  in  all  the  expensive  and  licentious 
pleasures  of  the  capital.  He  has  been  called  the  Roman  Bums, 
as  well  on  account  of  the  waywardness  of  his  life  as  from  the 
sweetness  of  his  song.  The  name  of  Catullus  closes  the  short 
list  of  the  prominent  poets  of  the  repubhcan  period  of  the  Golden 
Age. 

Poets  of  the  Augustan  Age.  —  Three  poets  have  cast  an 
unfading  lustre  over  the  period  covered  by  the  reign  of  Augustus, 
—  Virgil,  Horace,  and  Ovid.  So  distinguished  have  these  writers 
rendered  the  age  in  which  they  lived,  that  any  period  in  a 
people's  literature  signalized  by  exceptional  literary  taste  and 
refinement  is  called,  in  allusion  to  the  Roman  era,  an  Augustan 
Age.  After  the  terrific  commotion  that  marked  the  decline  and 
overthrow  of  the  republic,  the  long  and  firm  and  peaceful  reign 
of  Augustus  brought  welcome  relief  and  rest  to  the  Roman  world, 
wearied  with  conquests  and  with  contentions  over  the  spoils  of 
war.  In  narrating  the  political  history  of  this  period,  we  spoke 
of  the  effect  of  the  fall  of  the  republic  upon  the  development  of 
Latin  literature.  Many  who,  if  the  republican  institutions  had 
continued,  would  have  been  absorbed  in  the  affairs  of  the  state, 
were  led,  by  the  change  of  government,  to  seek  solace  for 
their  disappointed  hopes,  and  employment  for  their  enforced 
leisure,  in  the  graceful  labors  of  elegant  composition.  Augustus 
encouraged  this  disposition,  thinking  thus  to  turn  the  thoughts  of 
ambitious  minds  from  broodings  over  the  lost  cause.  By  his 
princely  patronage  of  letters  he  opened  a  new  and  worthy  field 
for  the  efforts  and  competitions  of  the  active  and  the  aspiring. 


i 


POETS   OF  THE  AUGUSTAN  AGE. 


197 


His  minister  Maecenas,  in  whose  veins  flowed  royal  Etruscan 
blood,  vied  with  his  master  in  the  bestowal  of  munificent  rewards 
upon  friends,  and  in  the  extension  of  a  helpful  and  inspiring 
patronage  to  literary  merit,  and  thus  did  much  towards  creating 
the  enthusiasm  for  letters  that  distinguishes  this  period. 

The  vastness  of  the  audience  they  addressed  also  reacted  upon 
the  writers  of  this  era,  and  encouraged  the  greatest  painstaking  in 
all  their  productions.  Never  before  had  literary  men  spoken  to 
so  extended  an  audience  —  to  so  much  of  the  world.  The  bound- 
aries of  the  Roman  empire  now  touched  everywhere  the  limits 
of  civilization.  And  throughout  these  ample  domains  the  Roman 
language  had  become  more  or  less  universally  spread.  In  all  the 
West,  as  we  have  seen,  in  Italy,  in  Gaul,  in  Spain,  in  the  cities  of 
Northern  Africa,  it  was  rapidly  supplanting  the  barbarous  dialects 
of  the  conquered  tribes;  while  throughout  all  the  provinces  and 
cities  of  the  East  it  was  the  speech  of  the  court,  of  the  aristocracy, 
of  learning.  The  works  of  Virgil,  of  Horace,  and  of  Ovid  were 
read  and  admired  in  the  camps  of  Gaul  and  in  the  capitals  of 
Greece  and  Syria.  Political  tranquillity,  elegant  leisure,  imperial 
patronage,  the  inspirations  of  Greek  genius,  the  encouragement 
of  appreciation  and  wide  attention  —  everything  conspired  to 
create  an  epoch  in  the  world  of  literature. 

And  yet  we  must  not  look  for  vigor,  strength,  originality, 
nervous  energy,  in  the  productions  of  the  writers  of  this  period. 
These  qualities  belong  to  times  of  great  public  excitement ;  to 
periods  of  activity,  change,  revolution ;  to  those  eras  that  signalize 
the  crises  and  grand  struggles  of  a  people's  life.  They  mark 
creative,  Shakespearian  epochs  in  literature.  Elegance,  grace, 
refinement,  polish,  taste,  beauty,  are  the  characteristics  of  the 
Augustan  writers. 

Of  the  three  poets  whom  we  have  named  as  the  representatives 
of  the  poetry  of  the  Augustan  period,  Virgil  doubtless  has  been 
the  most  widely  read  and  admired.  He  was  born  70  b.c.  in  the 
litde  village  of  Andes,  not  far  from  Mantua.  In  diligent  study 
at  Naples,  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  the  master-minds  of 


wn 


i 


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H 


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i 
if 


198 


LITERATURE,  FMILOSOPHY,  AND  LAW, 


Grecian  literature,  and  felt  the  inspirations  of  the  past  life  of 
Hellas.  Upon  his  farm  at  Mantua  he  learned  to  love  nature  and 
the  freedom  of  a  country  life.  During  the  disorders  of  the 
Second  Triumvirate  his  villa  was  confiscated,  along  with  the 
whole  Mantuan  district,  and  given  to  friends  of  Octavius  and 
Antony.  It  was  afterwards  restored  to  the  poet  by  Augustus. 
Virgil  was  laboring  upon  his  greatest  work,  the  ^neid^  when 
death  came  to  him,  in  the  fifty-second  year  of  his  age. 

The  three  gre^t  works  of  Virgil  are  his  Eclogues,  the  Georgics, 
and  the  ySneid.  The  Eclogues  are  a  series  of  pastorals,  which 
are  very  close  imitations  of  the  poems  of  the  Sicilian  Theocritus.* 
Virgil,  however,  never  borrowed  without  adorning  that  which  he 
appropriated  by  the  inimitable  touches  of  his  own  graceful  genius. 
It  is  the  rare  sweetness  and  melody  of  the  versification,  and  the 
Arcadian  simplicity  of  these  pieces,  that  have  won  for  them  such 
a  host  of  admirers. 

In  the  poem  of  the  Georgics  Virgil  extols  and  dignifies  the 
husbandman  and  his  labor.  This  work  has  been  pronounced  the 
most  finished  poem  in  the  entire  range  of  Latin  literature.  It 
was  written  at  the  suggestion  of  Maecenas,  who  hoped  by  means 
of  the  poet's  verse  to  allure  his  countrymen  back  to  that  love 
for  the  art  of  husbandry  which  animated  the  fathers  of  the  early 
Roman  state.  Throughout  the  work  Virgil  follows  very  closely 
the  Works  and  Days  of  Hesiod.^  The  poet  treats  of  all  the 
labors  and  cares  of  the  farm  —  gives  valuable  precepts  respecting 
the  keeping  of  bees  and  catde,  the  sowing  and  tillage  of  crops, 
the  dressing  of  vineyards  and  orchards,  and  embellishes  the  whole 
with  innumerable  passages  containing  beautiful  descriptions  of 
natural  scenery,  or  inculcating  some  philosophical  truth,  or  teach- 
ing some  moral  lesson.  Without  the  Georgics  we  should  never 
have  had  the  Seasons  of  Thomson ;  for  this  work  of  the  English 
poet  is  in  a  large  measure  a  dicea  translation  of  the  veiap§  of 
Virgil. 

^  See  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece^  p.  325. 
^  JHd.,  p.  309. 


■^mA 


POETS   OF  THE  AUGUSTAN  AGE, 


199 


The  ^neid  stands  next  to  the  Iliad  as  the  greatest  epic  poem 
of  all  literatures.  It  tells  the  story  of  the  wanderings  of  ^Eneas 
and  his  companions  up  and  down  the  Mediterranean  after  the 
downfall  of  Troy,  his  settlement  in  Italy,  and  the  struggles  of  his 
descendants  with  the  native  inhabitants  of  the  land.  Through 
^neas,  the  hero  of  the  poem,  Virgil  doubtless  intends  to  repre- 
sent and  compliment  the  character  of  his  patron,  Augustus.  In 
this,  his  greatest  work,  Virgil  was  a  close  student  of  the  Iliad  and 
the  Odyssey,  and  to  them  he  is  indebted  for  very  many  of  his 
finest  metaphors,  similes,  and  descriptive  passages,  as  well  as  for 
the  general  plan  and  structure  of  the  entire  work.  To  Ennius  , 
is  he  also  indebted  for  many  a  verse.  Homer  was  Virgil's  superior 
in  energy  and  originality,  and  in  the  martial  grandeur  of  his  lines ; 
while  the  latter  surpassed  his  master  in  the  grace,  melody,  ele- 
gance, and  harmony  of  his  versification. 

Virgil  enjoyed  for  his  work  that  reward  which  many  another 
worthy  poet  has  been  denied  —  the  appreciation  of  his  genius 
during  his  own  lifetime.  The  poet,  in  accordance  with  a  custom 
that  in  his  day  was  common,  read  or  recited  his  poems  in  the  pres- 
ence of  select  friends,  and  also  in  public.  On  one  occasion  he 
repeated  the  sixth  book  of  his  ^neid  before  his  imperial  patron 
Augustus  and  his  sister  Octavia,  who  was  then  mourning  the  recent 
death  of  her  son  Marcellus,  the  special  favorite  and  adopted  child 
of  the  emperor.  In  the  part  of  the  poem  rehearsed  by  Virgil 
occurs  the  well-known  passage  that  mourns  with  the  tenderest 
pathos  the  too  early  death  of  the  favorite  prince.  The  closing 
lines,  which  alone  reveal  the  name  of  the  subject  of  the  lament, 

run  thus : 

"  Ah,  dear  lamented  boy,  canst  thou  but  break 

The  stern  decrees  of  fate,  then  wilt  thou  be 

Our  own  Marcellus !  —  Give  me  lilies,  brought 

In  heaping  handfuls.     Let  me  scatter  here 

Dead  purple  flowers;  these  offerings  at  least 

To  my  descendant's  shade  I  fain  would  pay, 

Though  now,  alas !  an  unavailing  rite."  ^ 

^  ^neid^  book  vi.  (Cranch's  translation). 


il 


200 


LITERATURE,  PHILOSOPHY,  AND  LAW. 


SATIRE  AND  SATIRISTS. 


201 


It  is  said  that  as  Virgil  read  these  verses  Octavia  was  so  carried 
away  by  her  feelings  that  she  fainted,  and  that  the  poet  was  after- 
wards presented  with  10,000  sesterces  (about  ^400)  for  each  of 
the  twenty-five  lines  of  the  passage. 

Horace,  the  second  great  poet  of  the  Augustan  Age,  was  born 
in  the  year  65  B.C.,  only  five  years  later  than  Virgil,  whom  he  out- 
lived by  about  a  single  decade.  He  studied  at  Athens,  fought  with 
the  republicans  at  Philippi,  gained  no  glory  —  for  he  tells  us  him- 
self how  he  ran  away  from  the  field  —  but  lost  his  paternal  estate 
at  Venusia,  which  was  confiscated,  and  under  the  imperial  govern- 
ment commenced  life  anew  as  a  clerk  at  Rome.  Through  his 
friend  Virgil  he  secured  the  favor  of  Maecenas,  and  gained  an 
introduction  to  Augustus,  and  thenceforth  led  the  life  of  a  courtier, 
dividing  his  time  between  the  pleasures  of  the  capital  and  the 
scenes  of  his  pleasant  farm  near  the  village  of  Tibur.  The  latter 
years  of  his  life  were  shadowed  by  the  deaths  of  his  poet- friends 
Virgil  and  TibuUus,  and  that  of  his  generous  patron  Maecenas, 
whom  he  survived  only  a  few  weeks.  Horace's  Odes,  Satires,  and 
Epistles  have  all  helped  win  for  him  his  wide-spread  fame ;  but 
the  first  best  exhibit  his  rare  grace  and  genius. 

Ovid  (42  B.c.-A.D.  18)  is  the  third  name  in  the  triumvirate  of 
poets  that  ruled  the  Augustan  Age.  He  was  the  most  learned  of 
the  three,  seeming  indeed  to  be  acquainted  with  the  whole  round 
of  Greek  and  Latin  literature  and  speculation.  For  some  fault  or 
misdemeanor,  the  precise  nature  of  which  remains  a  profound 
secret  to  this  day,  Augustus,  his  former  friend  and  patron,  ban- 
ished the  poet  to  a  small  town  away  on  the  frontiers  of  the  empire 
—  on  the  bleak  shores  of  the  Euxine.  There  he  spent  the  last 
years  of  his  life,  bewailing  his  hard  lot  in  the  mournful  verses  of 
his  Tristia,  His  most  celebrated  work  is  his  Metamorphoses,  the 
preservation  of  which  we  owe  to  the  merest  good-fortune.  When 
the  emperor's  decree  was  brought  to  him,  he  was  at  work  revising 
the  manuscript,  which,  in  despair  or  anger,  he  flung  into  the  fire. 
Fortunately  some  friend  had  previously  made  a  copy  of  the  work, 
and  thus  this  literary  treasure  was  saved  to  the  world.     The  poem 


opens  with  a  sublime  description  of  Chaos  and  the  creation  of  the 
world ;  then  tells  of  the  production  of  monstrous  life  by  the  pro- 
lific earth,  and  of  the  changing  races  of  men  and  giants ;  after 
which  the  poet  proceeds  to  describe,  through  fifteen  books,  be- 
tween two  and  three  hundred  metamorphoses,  or  transformations 
--  such  as  the  change  of  the  companions  of  Ulysses  into  swine,  of 
Cadmus  into  a  serpent,  and  of  Arethusa  into  a  fountain  —  suffered 
by  various  persons,  gods,  heroes,  and  goddesses,  as  related  in  the 
innumerable  fables  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  mythologies. 

We  have  already  alluded  to  Tibullus  as  the  friend  of  Virgil  and 
Horace.  His  graceful  elegies  entitle  his  name  to  a  prominent 
place  among  the  poets  of  the  Augustan  Age.  Propertius,  too,  was 
another  honored  and  beloved  member  of  the  briUiant  coterie  of 
poets  that  have  rendered  the  reign  of  Augustus  ever  memorable 
in  the  literary  history  of  the  world. 

Satire  and  Satirists.— Satire  thrives  best  in  the  reeking  soil 
and  tainted  atmosphere  of  an  age  of  selfishness,  immorality,  and 
vice.     Such  an  age  was  that  which  followed  the  Augustan  era  at 
Rome.     The  throne  was  held  by  such  imperial  monsters  as  Tibe- 
rius, Caligula,  Nero,  and  Domitian.     The  profligacy  of  fashionable 
life  at  the  capital  and  the  various  watering-places  of  the  empire 
was  open  and  shameless.      The  degradation  of  the  court;  the 
corrupt  and  dissolute  life  of  the  upper  classes ;  the  imbruted  life 
of  the  masses,  fed  by  largesses  of  corn  and  entertained  with  the 
bloody  shows  of  the   amphitheatre;   the   decay  of  the   ancient 
religion,   and  the   almost   universal   prevalence   of  unbelief  and 
absolute  atheism ;  the  utter  loss  of  the  simplicity  and  virtue  of 
the  early  Roman  fathers,  and  the  almost  complete  degradation 
of  the  intellect,  —  all  these  gave  venom  and  point  to  the  shafts  of 
those  who  were  goaded  by  the  spectacle  into  attacking  the  immo- 
ralities and  vices  which   were   silently  yet   rapidly  sapping  the 
foundations  of  both  society  and  state.     Hence  arose  a  succession 
Of  writers  whose  mastery  of  sharp  and  stinging  satire  has  caused 
their  productions  to  become  the  models  of  all  subsequent  attempts 
m  the  same  species  of  literature.     Three  names  stand  out  in  spe- 


i 


202 


LITERATURE,  PHILOSOPHY,  AND  LAW. 


ORATORY  AMONG    THE  ROMANS. 


203 


IN 


cial  prominence,  —  Persius,  Juvenal,  and  Martial,' —  all  of  whom 
lived  and  wrote  during  the  last  half  of  the  first  and  the  beginning  of 
the  second  century  a.d.^  Their  writings  possess  an  historical  value 
and  interest,  as  it  is  through  them  that  we  gain  an  insight  such  as 
we  could  obtain  in  no  other  way  into  the  venal  and  corrupt  life  of 
the  capital  during  the  early  portion  of  the  imperial  period. 

The  indignant  protest  of  Persius,  Juvenal,  and  Martial  against 
the  vice  and  degradation  of  their  time  is  almost  the  last  utterance 
of  the  Latin  Muse.  From  this  time  forward  the  decay  of  the 
intellectual  life  of  Rome  was  swift  and  certain.  While  the  Greek 
intellect,  as  we  have  learned,  survived  by  many  centuries  the 
destruction  of  the  political  life  of  Greece,  the  Latin  intellect  sank 
into  decrepitude  centuries  before  the  final  fall  of  the  empire.  The 
political  fabric  —  so  admirably  consolidated  had  it  become  through 
the  growth  and  labors  of  many  centuries  —  remained  standing, 
like  an  aged  oak,  long  after  its  heart  had  been  eaten  away.  But 
it  could  put  forth  no  new  shoots.  After  the  death  of  Juvenal 
(about  A.D.  1 2o)  the  Roman  world  produced  not  a  single  poet  of 
sufficient  genius  to  merit  our  attention. 

Oratory  among  the  Romans.  —  "  Public  oratory,"  as  has  been 
truly  said,  "is  the  child  of  political  freedom,  and  cannot  exist 
without  it."  We  have  seen  this  illustrated  in  the  history  of  repub- 
lican Athens.  Equally  well  is  the  same  truth  exemplified  by  the 
records  of  the  Roman  state.  All  the  great  orators  of  Rome  arose 
under  the  republic.  As  during  this  period  almost  the  entire 
intellectual  force  of  the  nation  was  directed  towards  legal  and 
political  studies,  it  was  natural,  and  indeed  inevitable,  that  the 
most  famous  orators  of  the  era  should  appear  as  statesmen  or 

1  Martial  was  an  epigrammatist,  but  almost  all  his  epigrams  were  pressed 
into  the  service  of  satire. 

*  There  are  two  other  poets  belonging  to  this  age  whose  names  must  not  be 
passed  unmentioned,  —  Lucan  (a.d.  38-65)  and  Statius  (a.d.  61-95).  Lucan's 
only  extant  work  is  his  Pharsalia,  an  epic  poem  on  the  civil  war  between 
Caesar  and  Fompey.  Statius  wrote  two  epics,  the  Thebaid  and  the  Achilleld, 
the  latter  being  left  incomplete. 


li 


advocates.  Theology,  science,  and  belles-lettres  did  not  then,  as 
they  have  come  to  do  among  ourselves,  suggest  inviting  and  popu- 
lar themes  for  the  best  efforts  of  the  public  speaker. 

Roman  oratory  was  senatorial,  popular,  and  judicial.  These  dif- 
ferent styles  of  eloquence  were  represented  by  the  grave  and 
dignified  debates  of  the  Senate,  the  impassioned  and  often  noisy 
and  inelegant  harangues  of  the  Forum,  and  the  learned  pleadings 
or  ingenious  appeals  of  the  courts.  Junius  Brutus,  Appius  Claudius 
Caecus,  the  Scipios,  Cato  the  Censor,  Gaius  and  Tiberius  Gracchus, 
Lucius  Licinius,  Marcus  Antonius,  Lucius  Crassus,  Sulpicius, 
Hortensius,  Julius  Caesar,  Mark  Antony,^  and  Cicero  are  some  of 
the  most  prominent  names  that  have  made  the  rostrum  of  the 
Roman  Forum  and  the  assembly-chamber  of  the  Roman  Senate 
f.imous  in  the  records  of  oratory  and  eloquence.  Among  all  these 
orators,  Hortensius  and  Cicero  are  easily  first. 

Hortensius  (114-50  B.C.)  was  a  famous  lawyer,  whose  name 
adorns  the  legal  profession  at  the  capital  both  as  the  learned 
jurist  and  the  eloquent  advocate.  His  forensic  talent  won  for 
him  a  lucrative  law-practice,  through  which  he  gathered  an  im- 
mense fortune.  Besides  a  mansion  on  the  Palatine,  he  possessed 
several  villas,  which  were  kept  up  with  a  most  profuse  expenditure. 
The  olive-trees  in  his  gardens  were  sprinkled  with  wine,  to  improve 
the  flavor  of  the  fruit.  His  fish-ponds  were  stocked  with  an  infi- 
nite variety  of  fresh  and  marine  fish,  the  food  and  health  of  which 
were  matters  of  greater  concern  to  their  master  than  the  food 
and  health  of  his  slaves.  It  is  told  that  he  actually  wept  over  the 
untimely  death  of  a  favorite  lamprey. 

But  the  brightness  of  the  fame  of  Hortensius  is  dimmed  by  the 
lustre  of  the  name  of  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero  ^  ( 106-43  B.C.) ,  the  un- 
tiring student,  the  constant  patriot,  the  polished  orator.  He  has 
been  called  "  the  Edward  Everett  of  antiquity."  He  enjoyed 
every  advantage  that  wealth  and  parental  ambition  could  con- 

^  Grandson  of  Marcus  Antonius. 

2  Some  critics,  however,  are  unwilling  to  accord  much  praise  to  Cicero. 
Mommsen  declares  that  he  was  nothing  but  a  "  dexterous  stylist." 


204 


LITERATURE,   PHILOSOPHY,  AND  LAW, 


LATIN  HISTORIANS. 


205 


CICERO.     (From  a  bust  at  Madrid.) 


fer  or  suggest.    His  teachers  were  the  poet  Archias  and  the  orator 
Crassus.      Like  many  others  of  the  Roman  patrician  youths  of  his 

time,  he  was  sent  to  Greece  to 
finish  his  education  in  the  schools 
of  Athens.     Returning  to  Italy, 
he   soon  assumed  a  position  of 
commanding  influence  at  the  Ro- 
man capital.     His  prosecution  of 
Verres  shows  his  hatred  of  the 
official   corruption    and   venality 
that  disgraced  his  times  ;  his  ora- 
tions against  Catiline  illustrate  his 
patriotism  ;  his  essays  exhibit  the 
wide  range  of  his  thoughts  and 
the   depth   of  his   philosophical 
reflections.     All  his  productions 
evince  the  most  scnipulous  care 
in  their  preparation.     He  was  a 
purist  in  language,  and  is  said  to  have  sometimes  spent  several 
days  hunting  for  a  proper  word  or  phrase.     His  greatest  fault  was 
his  overweening  vanity,  which  appears  in  all  he  ever  wrote,  as  well 
as  in  every  act  of  his  life.     But  the  times  in  which  Cicero  lived 
rather  than  the  orator  himself  are  responsible  for  this.     The  an- 
cient Romans  possessed  scarcely  a  trace  of  that  sense  of  propriety 
which  has  grown  up  among  us,  and  which  forbids  a  person's  cele- 
brating his  own  virtues.     Self-laudation,  when  not  too  fulsome,  did 
not  grate  on  the  ears  of  Cicero's  auditors. 

Latin  Historians.  —  Ancient  Rome  produced  four  writers  of 
history  whose  works  have  won  for  them  a  permanent  fame  —  Cse- 
sar,  Sallust,  Livy,  and  Tacitus.  Suetonius  may  also  be  mentioned 
in  this  place,  although  his  writings  were  rather  biographical  than 
historical* 

1  A  fuller  list  of  Roman  historical  authors  would  have  to  admit  the  name  of 
Fabius  Pictor,  who  lived  in  the  age  of  NtEvius,  and  was  the  first  historian  of 
the    Latin-speaking  race;   that  of  Cato  the  Censor,  of  whose  AnHquities  we 


Of  Caesar  and  his  Commentaries  on  the  Gallic  War,  we  have 
learned  in  a  previous  chapter.  This  work  and  his  Memoirs  of  the 
Civil  War  are  the  productions  on  which  his  fame  as  a  writer 
depends.  He  also  prepared  a  Latin  grammar,  a  book  on  divina- 
tion, a  treatise  on  astronomy,  and,  besides,  composed  some  poems 
that  are  not  without  merit.  But  Caesar  was  a  man  of  affairs  rather 
than  a  man  of  letters.  Yet  his  Comtnentaries  will  always  be  men- 
tioned along  with  the  Anabasis  of  Xenophon,  as  a  model  of  the 
narrative  style  of  writing. 

Sallust  (86-34  B.C.)  was  the  contemporary  and  friend  of  Caesar. 
He  was  praetor  of  one  of  the  African  provinces.  Following  the 
example  of  the  Roman  officials  of  his  time,  he  amassed  by  harsh 
if  not  unjust  exactions  an  immense  fortune,  and  erected  at  Rome 
a  palatial  residence  with  extensive  and  beautiful  gardens,  which 
became  one  of  the  favorite  resorts  of  the  literary  characters  of  the 
capital.  The  two  works  upon  which  his  fame  rests  are  the  Con- 
spiracy of  Catiline  d,xv^  iht  Jiigtir thine  JVar.  Both  of  these  pro- 
ductions are  reckoned  among  the  best  specimens  of  prose  writ- 
ing in  the  entire  range  of  Latin  literature,  and  are  found  in  the 
hands  of  every  classical  student  in  the  universities  of  Europe  and 
America. 

Livy  (59  B.C.-A.D.17)  was  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of 
the  Augustan  Age.  In  popular  esteem  he  holds  the  first  place 
among  Latin  historical  authors.  Herodotus  among  the  ancient, 
and  Macaulay  among  the  modern,  writers  of  historical  narrative 
are  the  names  with  which  his  is  oftenest  compared.  His  greatest 
work  is  his  Annals,  a  history  of  Rome  from  the  earliest  times  to 
the  year  9  B.C.  Unfortunately,  all  save  thirty-five  of  the  books 
of  this  admirable  production  —  the  work  filled  one  hundred  and 
forty- two  volumes  —  perished  during  the  disturbed  period  that 
followed  the  overthrow  of  the  empire.  Many  have  been  the 
laments  over  "  the  lost  books  of  Livy."  The  fragments  which 
remain  have  been  universally  read  and  admired  for  the  inimitable 

possess  the  merest  fragments;   and  that  of  Cornelius  Nepos,  who  wrote  in  the 
first  century  B.C. 


Ill 


i 


206 


LITERATURE,  PHILOSOPHY,  AND  LAW, 


% 


grace  and  ease  of  the  flowing  narrative.  Livy  loved  a  story 
equally  well  with  Herodotus.  Like  the  Greek  historian,  he  was 
over-credulous,  and  relates  with  charming  ingenuousness,  without 
the  least  questioning  of  their  credibility,  all  the  early  legends, 
myths,  and  ballads  that  were  extant  in  his  day,  respecting  the 
early  affairs  of  Rome.  Modem  critics,  among  whom  are  Niebuhr 
and  Mommsen,  have  shown  that  all  the  first  portion  of  his  history 
is  entirely  unreliable  as  a  chronicle  of  actual  events.  However,  it 
is  a  most  entertaining  account  of  what  the  Romans  themselves 
thought  and  believed  respecting  the  origin  of  their  race,  the 
founding  of  their  city  and  state,  and  the  deeds  and  virtues  of 
their  forefathers. 

The   works   of  Tacitus   are   his    Germania,  a  treatise  on   the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  Germans ;  the  Life  of  Agricola,  his 
History,  and  his  Annals,     All  of  these  are  most  admirable  pro- 
ductions, polished  and  graceful  narratives,  full  of  entertainment 
and  instruction.     His  Germania,  written,  it  is  thought  by  some, 
out  of  the  fulness  of  knowledge  derived  from  personal  observation 
through  service  or  residence  on  the  Rhenish  frontier,  gives  us  the 
fullest  information  that  we  possess  respecting  the  manners,  beliefs, 
and  social  arrangements  of  our  barbarian   ancestors   while   they 
were  yet  living  beneath  their  native  forests.     Tacitus  dwells  with 
delight  upon  the  simple  life  of  the  uncivilized  Germans,  and  sets 
their  virtues  in  strong  contrast  with  the  immoralities  of  the  refined 
and  cultured  Romans.     His  treatise  on  the   life  and  campaigns 
of  Agricola,  his   father-in-law,  is   pronounced   one   of  the    most 
admirable  biographies  in  the  entire  round  of  literature.     It  gives 
a  most  vivid  and  picturesque  portrayal  of  the  conquest  of  Britain 
and  the  establishment  of  Roman  authority  in  that  remote  island. 
The  History  and  Annals  cover  the  reigns  of  some  of  the  best 
and  some  of  the  worst  of  the  rulers  of  the  early  empire.     The 
hot  indignation  of  the  virtuous  and  patriotic  historian,  poured 
out   in   scathing  invective   against  a  Nero  and  a  Domitian,  has 
caused  his  name  to  be  frequently  placed  with  those  of  Persius, 
Juvenal,  and  the  other  Roman  satirists. 


SCIENCE,   ETHICS,   AND  PHILOSOPHY. 


207 


Suetonius  (a.d.  75-160)  was  the  biographer  of  the  Twelve 
Caesars.  It  is  to  him  that  we  are  indebted  for  very  many  of  the 
details  of  the  lives  of  these  early  emperors.  The  picture  which 
he  draws  is  painted  in  dark  colors,  yet  it  is  doubtless  in  the  main 
a  fairly  reliable  portraiture  of  some  of  the  most  detestable  tyrants 
that  ever  disgraced  a  throne. 

Science,  Ethics,  and  Philosophy.  —  Under  this  head  may  be 
grouped  the  names  of  Varro,  Seneca,  Pliny  the  Elder  and  Pliny 
the  Younger,  Marcus  Aurelius,  Epictetus,  Quintilian,  and  Phaedrus. 

Varro  (116-26  B.C.)  belongs  to  the  later  years  of  the  republic. 
His  almost  universal  knowledge  has  earned  for  him  the  title  of 
"the  most  learned  of  the  Romans."  He  witnessed  the  terrific 
scenes  of  the  days  of  Sulla  and  Marius,  of  Pompey  and  Caesar,  of 
Octavius  and  Antony.  He  himself  was  among  the  proscribed  in 
the  lists  of  the  cruel  Antony,  and  his  magnificent  villas  —  for  he 
had  immense  wealth  —  were  confiscated.  Augustus  gave  him' 
back  his  farms,  but  could  not  restore  his  library,  which  had 
perished  in  the  sack  of  his  villas.  Like  many  another  in  thosS 
turbulent  times,  when  he  saw  the  hopeless  ruin  of  the  republic 
and  the  establishment  of  despotism  in  its  place,  he  sought  solace 
in  the  pursuit  of  literature.  Almost  the  entire  circle  of  letters 
was  adorned  by  his  versatile  pen :  he  is  said  to  have  written  five 
hundred  books.  His  most  valuable  production,  however,  was  a 
work  on  agriculture,  a  sort  of  hand-book  for  the  Italian  farmer. 

Seneca  (about  a.d.  1-65),  moralist  and  philosopher,  has  already 
come  to  our  notice  as  the  tutor  of  Nero.  The  act  of  his  life 
which  has  been  most  severely  condemed  was  the  defence  which 
he  made  of  his  master  before  the  Senate  for  the  tyrant's  mur- 
der of  his  mother,  Agrippina.  Nero  requited  but  poorly  the 
infamous  service.  Seneca  possessed  an  enormous  fortune,  esti- 
mated at  300,000,000  sesterces,  which  the  ever-needy  emperor 
coveted;  he  accordingly  accused  him  of  taking  part  in  a  con- 
spiracy against  his  life,  ordered  his  death,  and  confiscated  hi^ 
estates.  The  philosopher  met  his  fate  calmly.  Upon  receiv- 
ing the  decree  of  his  master,  he  opened  the  veins  of  his  body,  and 


I 


208 


LITERATURE,  PHILOSOPHY,  AND  LAW. 


SCIENCE,  ETHICS,  AND  PHILOSOPHY. 


209 


died  in  his  warm  bath,  whither  he  had  retired  in  order  that  the 
flow  of  the  blood  might  be  accelerated,  for  it  had  become  sluggish 
from  age. 

As  a  philosopher  Seneca  belonged  to  the  school  of  the  Stoics. 

He  wrote  many  essays  and  let- 
ters, the  latter  intended  for  pub- 
lication, containing  lofty  maxims 
of  wisdom  and  virtue,  which  he 
certainly  did  not  always  follow  in 
the  conduct  of  his  own  life.     He 
was  a  disbeliever  in  the  popular 
religion  of  his  countrymen,  and 
entertained  conceptions  of  God 
and    his    moral   government  not 
very  different  from  the  doctrines 
of  Socrates.      So  admirable  are 
his  ethical  teachings  that  it  has 
been  maintained  the  philosopher 
came    under    the    influences    of 
Christianity;   and  several  letters  addressed  to  the  apostle  Paul, 
which  are  still  extant,  were  formerly  referred  to  as  proof  of  this  fact ,' 
but  these  have  been  shown  to  be  spurious.     Besides  his  ethical 
and  philosophical  writings,  Seneca  composed  ten  tragedies,  de- 
signed rather  for  reading  than  for  the  stage.     Seneca's  name  will 
ever  be  noted  as  that  of  a  great  teacher  of  virtue  and  morahty  to 
a  corrupt  age,  whose  influence  upon  himself  all  his  philosophy 
could  not  wholly  resist. 

Pliny  the  Elder  (a.d.  23-79)  is  almost  the  only  Roman  who  won 
renown  as  an  investigator  of  the  phenomena  of  nature.  His  life 
was  a  marvellously  busy  one,  every  moment  being  filled  with 
public  services,  with  observations,  study,  and  writing.  He  seldom 
walked,  but  rode  or  was  carried  in  a  litter,  that  he  might  not  lose 
a  moment  from  his  studies.  At  his  meals  and  toilet  he  had  a 
slave  read  to  him. 

Pliny  lost  his  life  in  an  over-zealous  pursuit  of  science.     He  was 


SENECA. 


in  command  of  the  Roman  fleet  at  Misenum  when  occurred  the 
eruption  of  Vesuvius  which  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  Pom- 
peii and  Herculaneum.  Subduing  the  fears  of  his  officers,  who 
wished  to  flee  from  the  scene,  Pliny  employed  the  ships  of  his 
fleet  in  rescuing  the  inhabitants  of  the  coast.  His  vessels,  while 
engaged  in  this  work,  were  covered  with  the  hot  ashes  that  dark- 
ened the  air  and  fell  incessantly  in  heavy  showers.  In  order  to 
gain  a  better  view  of  the  mountain,  the  philosopher  ordered  his 
sailors  to  put  him  ashore ;  but  unfortunately  he  ventured  too  near 
the  volcano,  and  was  overcome  and  suffocated  by  the  sulphurous 
exhalations. 

The  only  work  of  Pliny  that  has  been  spared  to  us  is  his  Natu- 
ral History,  embracing  thirty-seven  volumes.  It  is  a  monument 
of  untiring  industry  and  extensive  research.  It  contains  20,000 
citations  from  more  than  hvo  thousand  volumes  of  various  authors. 
It  was  the  Roman  Encyclopaedia,  containing  all  that  the  worid  then 
knew  respecting  astronomy,  geography,  botany,  zoology,  medicine, 
and  the  arts  of  painting  and  statuary.  In  this  work  he  defends  the 
theory  of  the  sphericity  of  the  earth,  and  declares  that  it  is  a  globe 
hanging,  by  what  means  supported  he  knows  not,  in  vacant  space. 

In  connection  with  the  name  of  Pliny  the  Elder  must  be  men- 
tioned that  of  his  nephew,  Pliny  the  Younger.  He  succeeded  to 
the  estate,  and  to  somewhat  of  the  fame,  of  his  celebrated  uncle. 
He  was  a  man  of  letters,  being  a  graceful  writer  and  orator,  yet 
was  not  a  naturalist  like  the  first  Pliny.  He  was  a  servile  courtier, 
and  wrote  a  eulogy  upon  the  character  of  the  Emperor  Trajan 
which  is  filled  with  the  most  fulsome  praise.  The  large  number 
of  his  epistles,  poems,  histories,  and  tragedies  indicate  his  industry 
and  untiring  devotion  to  letters. 

Marcus  Aurelius  the  emperor  and  Epictetus  the  slaVe  hold  the 
first  places  among  the  ethical  teachers  of  Rome.  The  former 
wrote  his  Meditations ;  but  the  latter,  like  Socrates,  committed 
nothing  to  writing,  so  that  we  know  of  the  character  of  his  teach- 
ings only  through  one  of  his  pupils,  Arrian  by  name.  Epictetus 
was  for  many  years  a  slave  at  the  capital,  but,  securing  in  some 


I 


210 


UTERATURE,  PHILOSOPHY^  AND  LAW. 


way  his  freedom,  he  became  a  teacher  of  philosophy.  Domitian 
having  ordered  all  philosophers  to  leave  Rome,  Epictetus  fled  to 
Epirus,  where  he  established  a  school  in  which  he  taught  the  doc- 
trines of  Stoicism.  His  name  is  inseparably  linked  with  that  of 
Marcus  Aurelius  as  a  teacher  of  the  purest  system  of  ethics  that 
is  found  outside  of  Christianity.  Epictetus  and  Aurelius  were  the 
last  eminent  representatives  and  expositors  of  the  philosophy  of 
Zeno.  They  were  the  last  of  the  Stoics.  In  them  Stoicism  bore 
its  consummate  flower  and  fruit.  The  doctrines  of  the  Galilean 
were  even  then  fast  taking  possession  of  the  Roman  world ;  for, 
giving  more  place  to  the  affections  and  all  the  natural  instincts, 
they  readily  won  the  hearts  of  men  from  the  cold,  unsympathetic 
abstractions  of  the  Grecian  sage. 

Quintilian  (a.d.  40-118)  was  the  one  great  grammarian  and 
rhetorician  that  the  Roman  race  produced.  For  about  a  quarter 
of  a  century  he  was  the  most  noted  lecturer  at  Rome  on  educa- 
tional and  literary  subjects.  One  of  the  booksellers  of  the  capital, 
after  much  persuasion,  finally  prevailed  upon  the  teacher  to  pub- 
lish his  lectures.  They  were  received  with  great  favor,  and  Quin- 
tilian's  Institutes  have  never  ceased  to  be  studied  and  copied  by 
all  succeeding  writers  on  education  and  rhetoric.^ 


i 


1  The  allusions  which  we  have  made  to  the  publishing  trade  suggest  a  word 
respecting  ancient  publishers  and  books.  There  were  in  Rome  several  pub- 
lishing houses,  which,  in  their  day,  enjoyed  a  wide  reputation  and  conducted 
a  very  extended  business.  "  Indeed,  the  antique  book-trade,"  says  Guhl, "  was 
carried  on  on  a  scale  hardly  surpassed  by  modern  times.  .  .  .  The  place  of 
the  press  in  our  literature  was  taken  by  the  slaves."  Through  practice  they 
gained  surprising  facility  as  copyists,  and  books  were  multiplied  with  great 
rapidity.  And,  as  to  the  books  themselves,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  a  book 
in  the  ancient  sense  was  simply  a  roll  of  manuscript  or  parchment,  and  con- 
tained nothing  like  the  amount  of  matter  held  by  an  ordinary  modern  volume. 
Thus  Csesar's  Gallic  PVars,  which  makes  a  single  volume  of  moderate  size  with 
us,  made  eight  Roman  books.  Most  of  the  houses  of  the  wealthy  Romans 
contained  libraries.  The  collection  of  Sammanicus  Serenus,  tutor  of  Gordian, 
numbered  62,cxx)  books.  There  were  twenty-nine  public  libraries  in  Rome 
established  by  the  emperors. 


WRITERS  OF  THE  EARLY  LATIN  CHURCH. 


211 


During  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  Phaedrus,  the  Roman  ^sop, 
wrote  his  fables,  which  were,  for  the  most  part,  translations  or 
imitations  of  the  productions  of  his  Grecian  master.  A  little 
later,  in  the  reign  of  Titus,  Frontinus  wrote  a  valuable  work  on 
the  Roman  system  of  engineering,  and  a  still  more  interesting 
book  on  the  Roman  aqueducts.  This  latter  work  gives  us  much 
interesting  information  respecting  those  stupendous  structures. 

Writers  of  the  Early  Latin  Church.  —  The  Christian  authors 
of  the  first  three  centuries,  like  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament, 
employed  the  Greek,  that  being  the  language  of  learning  and 
culture.  Clement  of  Rome,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Justin, 
Origen,  Eusebius,  Chrysostom,  and  Basil  are  a  few  of  the  cele- 
brated fithers  of  the  early  Church  who  used  in  their  works  the 
language  of  Athens.  Of  these  Chrysostom  ("golden- mouthed"), 
so  called  on  account  of  his  persuasive  oratory,  was  perhaps  the 
most  renowned. 

But,  though  the  Greek  language  was  first  chosen  as  the  medium 
for  the  dissemination  of  Christian  doctrines,  as  the  Latin  tongue 
gradually  came  into  more  general  use  throughout  the  extended 
provinces  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  Christian  authors  naturally 
begun  to  use  the  same  in  the  composition  of  their  works.  Hence 
almost  all  the  writings  of  the  fathers  of  the  Church  produced 
during  the  last  centuries  of  the  empire  were  composed  in  Latin. 
From  among  the  many  names  that  adorn  the  Church  literature 
of  this  period,  we  shall  select  only  two  for  special  mention,  —  St. 
Jerome  and  St.  Augustine. 

Jerome  (a.d.  342-420)  was  a  native  of  Pannonia.  He  studied 
at  Rome  an  I  at  Constantinople,  and  travelled  through  all  the 
provinces  of  the  empire,  from  Britain  to  Palestine.  For  many 
years  he  led  a  monastic  life  at  Bethlehem.  He  is  especially  held 
in  memory  by  his  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  Latin.  This 
version  is  known  as  the  Vulgate,  and  is  the  one  still  used  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church. 

Aurelius  Augustine  (a.d.  354-430)  was  born  near  Carthage,  in 
Africa.     He  was  the  most  eminent  writer  of  the  Christian  Church 


I 


<l 


*4 


212 


UTERATURE,  PHILOSOPHY,  AND  LAW, 


during  the  later  Roman  period.  His  numerous  works  —  sermons, 
commentaries,  and  epistles  —  form  a  perfect  library  of  themselves  j 
but  his  fame  rests  chiefly  on  his  Confessions  and  his  City  of  God. 
two  of  the  most  remarkable  productions  of  all  Christian  writings. 
The  larger  part  of  the  Confessions  is  a  touching  narrative  of  the 
struggles  of  soul  that  resulted  in  his  conversion.  This  work  is  a 
classic  in  Christian  literature,  and  has  been  translated  into  almost 
every  language  .in  which  the  Bible  is  read.  The  City  of  God  is  a 
truly  woiiderful  work.  The  author  writes  with  the  fervor  of  an 
Isaiah,  with  the  prophetic  vision  of  the  Exile  of  Patmos.  The 
book  was  written  just  when  the  Goths  and  Vandals  were  taking 
possession  of  the  empire,  when  Rome  was  becoming  the  spoil  of 
the  barbarians.  It  was  designed  to  answer  the  charge  of  the 
Pagans  that  Christianity,  turning  the  hearts  of  the  people  away 
from  the  worship  of  the  ancient  gods,  was  the  cause  of  the  calam- 
ities that  were  befalling  the  Roman  state.  Ifr  symbolizes  Rome 
as  the  city  of  the  world,  which  only  presumptuously  can  call  itself 
the  "  Eternal  City  "  ;  while  under  the  figure  of  the  City  of  God  is 
portrayed  the  enduring  nature  of  the  Christian  Church,  the  New 
Jerusalem,  the  truly  "Eternal  City." 

Koman  Law  and  Law  Literature.  —  Although  the  Latin  writ- 
ers in  all  the  departments  of  literary  effort  which  we  have  so  far 
reviewed  did  much  valuable  work,  yet,  as  we  have  had  occasion 
to  repeat  frequently,  the  Roman  intellect  in  all  these  directions 
was  under  Greek  guidance ;  its  work  was  imitative,  and  through- 
out all  its  course  unmarked  by  any  great  originality,  boldness,  or 
creative  energy.  But  in  another  department  it  was  different.  We 
mean,  of  course,  the  field  of  legal  and  political  science.  Here  the 
Romans  ceased  to  be  pupils  and  became  teachers.  Here  they 
are  no  longer  the  servile  imitators  of  the  excellences  of  others,  — 
although  they  do  not  refuse  helpful  instruction,  —  but  they  become 
creators  and  masters.  Nations,  like  men,  have  their  mission. 
Rome's  mission  was  to  give  laws  to  the  world. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  law-system  of  the  Romans  begins  with 
the  legislation  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  about  450  B.C.     The  laws  en- 


ROMAN  LAW  AND  LAW  LITERATURE. 


213 


grossed  upon  these  tablets  must  be  regarded  as  being  in  the  main 
a  systemized  collection  of  the  rules  and  regulations  that  had  grown 
up  during  many  preceding  centuries.  Throughout  all  the  republi- 
can period  the  laws  of  the  state  were  growing  less  harsh  and  cruel, 
less  invidious  in  their  distinctions  between  the  higher  and  lower 
classes  of  the  community,  and  were  gradually  effacing  the  marks 
of  their  barbarous  origin  and  becoming  more  liberal  and  scientific. 
From  100  B.C.  to  a.d.  250  lived  and  wrote  the  most  famous  of  the 
Roman  jurists  and  law-writers,  who  created  the  most  remarkable 
law  literature  ever  produced  by  any  people.  The  great  unvarying 
principles  that  underlie  and  regulate  all  social  and  political  rela- 
tions were  examined,  illustrated,  and  clearly  enunciated.  Gains, 
Ulpian,  Paulus,  Papinian,  and  Pomponius  are  among  the  most 
renowned  writers  who,  during  the  period  just  indicated,  enriched 
by  their  writings  and  decisions  this  branch  of  Latin  literature. 

In  the  year  a.d.  527  Justinian  became  emperor  of  the  Eastern 
Roman  Empire.  He  almost  immediately  entered  upon  the  work 
of  collecting  and  arranging  in  a  systematic  manner  the  immense 
mass  of  Roman  laws  and  the  writings  of  the  jurists.  The  under- 
taking was  like  the  labor  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  only  infinitely 
greater.  Since  those  were  set  up  in  the  Forum  a  thousand  years 
had  passed.  During  these  centuries  the  limits  of  Latium  had 
expanded  until  they  embraced  three  continents;  and  over  all 
these  regions,  with  their  motley  populations,  Rome  had  extended 
her  authority  and  her  laws.  There  was  no  possible  relation  of 
life  that  was  not  recognized  and  dealt  with  by  the  Roman  govern- 
ment. Men's  relations  to  the  family,  to  the  city,  to  the  state,  to 
the  gods,  were  clearly  defined  and  legislated  upon  and  decreed 
about  by  senate,  emperors,  and  municipal  magistrates.  During 
all  these  centuries,  too,  the  best  intellects  of  the  nation  had  been 
busy  annotating  and  commenting  upon  all  this  growing  mass  of 
legislation,  and  producing  whole  libraries  of  learned  works  respect- 
ing the  science  of  jurisprudence  and  government  in  general. 
Bearing  these  things  in  mind,  we  can  form  some  faint  conception 
of  the  enormous  amount  of  material  of  a  legal  character  that  had 


I 'I 


m 


fill 


214 


LITERATURE,  PHILOSOPHY,  AND  LAW. 


been  created  by  the  time  of  the  subversion  of  the  empire  of  the 
West. 

Justinian  committed  the  task  of  collating,  revising,  condensing, 
and  harmonizing  all  this  matter  to  the  celebrated  lawyer  Tribo- 
nian,  with  whom  were  associated  during  the  course  of  the  work 
fourteen  assistants.  This  commission  began  its  labors  in  the  year 
A.D.  528,  and  in  five  years  the  task  was  completed,  and  given  to 
the  world  in  the  form  of  the  Corpus  Juris  Civiiis,  or  "  Body  of 
the  Civil  Law."  This  consisted  of  three  parts,  —  the  Code^  the 
Pandects,  and  the  Institutes}  The  Code  was  a  revised  and 
compressed  collection  of  all  the  laws,  instructions  to  judicial 
officers,  and  opinions  on  legal  subjects,  promulgated  by  the  differ- 
ent emperors  since  the  time  of  Hadrian ;  the  Pandects  (all-con- 
taining) were  a  digest  or  abridgment  of  the  writings,  opinions, 
and  decisions  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  old  Roman  jurists  and 
lawyers.  Two  thousand  books  of  thirty-nine  different  authors,  all 
of  whom  lived  between  100  b.c.  and  a.d.  250,  were  collected, 
and  from  this  enormous  mass  of  manuscript  were  culled  9000 
extracts,  which  contained  the  sum  and  substance  of  all  that  three 
centuries  and  more  of  law-scholars  had  thought  and  written. 
These  excerpts  were  arranged  under  their  proper  tides,  and  filled 
fifty  books.  This  part  of  the  Corpus  Juris  is  by  far  the  most 
important  and  interesting,  as  it  deals  with  the  principles  of  legal 
science,  and  has  to  do  with  private  law,  which  touches  the  trans- 
actions of  every-day  life,  while  the  Code  is  mainly  concerned  with 
public  law.  The  Institutes  were  a  condensed  edition  of  the  Pan- 
dects, and  were  intended  to  form  an  elementary  text- book  for  the 
use  of  students. 

When  the  great  work  was  completed,  copies  were  furnished  to 
all  the  law-schools  of  Constantinople,  Rome,  Alexandria,  Berytus, 
Caesarea,  and  other  cities  of  the  empire.  It  was  the  sole  text- 
book of  the  youth  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  law. 


*  A  later  work,  called  the  Novels,  comprised  the  laws  of  Justinian  subse- 
quent to  the  completion  of  the  Code. 


^!l 


EDUCATION, 


215 


The  Body  of  the  Roman  Law  thus  preserved  and  transmitted 
was  the  great  contribution  of  the  Latin  intellect  to  civilization. 
It  has  exerted  a  profound  influence  upon  all  the  legal  systems  of 
modern  Europe.  During  the  Dark  Ages  its  study  abated;  but 
early  in  the  twelfth  century  there  was  a  great  revival  of  interest 
in  it  in  all  the  law-schools  of  Italy,  especially  at  Bologna.  As  a 
result  of  this  fresh  examination  of  the  admirable  system  of  juris- 
prudence of  ancient  Rome,  the  Justinian  Code  became  the 
groundwork  of  the  present  law-system  of  Italy,  of  Southern 
France,  and  of  Germany.  It  also  became  auxiliary  law  in  North- 
ern France  and  in  Spain,  while  in  England  the  laws  of  our  Teu- 
tonic ancestors  were  by  it  greatly  influenced  and  modified.^  Thus 
has  Rome  given  laws  to  the  nations  —  thus  does  the  once  little 
Palatine  city  of  the  Tiber  still  rule  the  world.  The  religion  of 
Judea,  the  arts  of  Greece,  and  the  laws  of  Rome  are  three  very 
real  and  potent  elements  in  modern  civilization. 

SocML  Life. 

Education.  —  Roman  children  were  subject  in  an  extraordinary 
manner  to  their  father  {paterfamilias) .  They  were  regarded  as 
his  property,  and  their  life  and  liberty  were  in  general  at  his  abso- 
lute disposal.  This  power  he  exercised  by  usually  drowning  at 
birth  the  deformed  or  sickly  child.  Even  the  married  son  re- 
mained legally  subject  to  his  father,  who  could  banish  him,  sell 
him  as  a  slave,  or  even  put  him  to  death.  It  should  be  said, 
however,  that  the  right  of  putting  to  death  was  seldom  exercised, 
and  that  in  the  time  of  the  empire  the  law  put  some  limitations 
upon  it. 

The  education  of  the  Roman  boy  differed  from  that  of  the 
Greek  youth  in  being  more  practical.  The  laws  of  the  Twelve 
Tables  were  committed  to  memory;  and  rhetoric  and  oratory 
were  given  special  attention,  as  a  mastery  of  the  art  of  public 


it 


1  Hadley's  Introduction  to  Roman  Law,  p.  25  et  seq. 


1 

V 

Ml 


216 


SOCIAL  LIFE. 


speaking  was  an  almost  indispensable  acquirement  for  the  Roman 
citizen  who  aspired  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  the  affairs  of 
state. 

After  the  conquest  of  Magna  Grsecia  and  of  Greece,  the  Romans 
were  brought  into  closer  relations  than  had  hitherto  existed  with 
Greek  culture.  The  Roman  youths  were  taught  the  language  of 
Athens,  often  to  the  neglect,  it  appears,  of  their  native  tongue ; 
for  we  hear  the  censor  Cato  complaining  that  the  boys  of  his 
time  spoke  Greek  before  they  could  use  their  own  language. 
Young  men  belonging  to  families  of  means  not  unusually  went  to 
Greece,  just  as  the  graduates  of  our  schools  go  to  Europe,  to  finish 
their  education.  Many  of  the  most  prominent  statesmen  of  Rome, 
as,  for  instance,  Cicero  and  Julius  Caesar,  received  the  advantages 
of  this  higher  training  in  the  schools  of  Greece. 

Somewhere  between  the  age  of  fourteen  and  eighteen  the  boy 
exchanged  his  purple-hemmed  toga,  or  gown,  for  one  of  white 
wool,  which  was  in  all  places  and  at  all  times  the  significant  badge 
of  Roman  citizenship  and  Roman  equality.* 

Social  Position  of  Woman.  —  Until  after  her  marriage,  the 
daughter  of  the  family  was  kept  in  almost  Oriental  seclusion. 
Marriage  gave  her  a  certain  freedom.  She  might  now  be  present 
at  the  races  of  the  circus  and  the  various  shows  of  the  theatre  and 
the  arena  —  a  privilege  rarely  accorded  to  her  before  marriage.  In 
the  early  virtuous  period  of  the  Roman  state,  divorce  was  unusual, 
but  in  later  and  more  degenerate  times  it  became  very  common. 
The  husband  had  the  right  to  divorce  his  wife  for  the  slightest 
cause,  or  for  no  cause  at  all.  In  this  disregard  of  the  sanctity  of 
the  family  relation  may  doubtless  be  found  one  cause  of  the 
degeneracy  and  failure  of  the  Roman  stock. 

Public  Amusements.  —  The  entertainments  of  the  theatre,  the 
games  of  the  circus,  and  the  combats  of  the  amphitheatre  were 

^  With  the  exception  of  the  chief  magistrates  and  the  senators,  every  citi- 
zen, whether  rich  or  poor,  patrician  or  plebeian,  was  compelled,  whenever  he 
appeared  in  public,  to  wear  the  same  white,  unadorned  mantle.  Thus  was 
symbolized  the  equality  of  the  citizens. 


PUBLIC  AMUSEMENTS. 


217 


the  three  principal  public  amusements  of  the  Romans.  These 
entertainments  in  general  increased  in  popularity  as  liberty  de- 
clined, the  great  festive  gatherings  at  the  various  places  of  amuse- 
ment taking  the  place  of  the  poHtical  assemblies  of  the  republic. 
The  public  exhibitions  under  the  empire  were,  in  a  certain  sense, 
the  compensation  which  the  emperors  offered  the  people  for  their 
surrender  of  the  right  of  participation  in  public  affairs,  and  the 
people  were  content  to  accept  the  exchange. 

Tragedy  was  never  held  in  high  esteem  at  Rome :  the  people 
saw  too  much  real  tragedy  in  the  exhibitions  of  the  amphitheatre 
to  care  much  for  the  make-believe  tragedies  of  the  stage.  The 
entertainments  of  the  theatres  usually  took  the  form  of  comedies, 
farces,  and  pantomimes.  The  last  were  particularly  popular,  both 
because  the  vast  size  of  the  theatres  made  it  quite  impossible  for 
the  actor  to  make  his  voice  heard  throughout  the  structure,  and 
for  the  reason  that  the  language  of  signs  was  the  only  language 
that  could  be  readily  understood  by  an  audience  made  up  of  so 
many  different  nationalities  as  composed  a  Roman  assemblage. 

More  important  and  more  popular  than  the  entertainments  of 
the  theatre  were  the  various  games,  especially  the  chariot  races,  of 
the  circus.  But  surpassing  in  their  terrible  fascination  all  other 
public  amusements  were  the  animal-baitings  and  the  gladiatorial 
combats  of  the  arena. 

The  beasts  required  for  the  baitings  were  secured  in  different 
parts  of  the  world,  and  transported  to  Rome  and  the  other  cities 
of  the  empire  at  an  enormous  expense.  The  wildernesses  of 
Northern  Europe  furnished  bears  and  wolves ;  Africa  contributed 
lions,  crocodiles,  and  leopards ;  Asia,  elephants  and  tigers.  These 
creatures  were  pitted  against  one  another  in  every  conceivable 
way.  Often  a  promiscuous  multitude  would  be  turned  loose  in 
the  arena  at  once.  But  even  the  terrific  scene  that  then  ensued, 
became  at  last  too  tame  to  stir  the  blood  of  the  Roman  populace. 
Hence  a  new  species  of  show  was  introduced,  and  grew  rapidly 
into  favor  with  the  spectators  of  the  amphitheatre.  This  was  the 
gladiatorial  combat. 


218 


SOCIAL  LIFE. 


The  Gladiatorial  Combats.  —  Gladiatorial  games  seem  to  have 
had  their  origin  in  Etruria,  whence  they  were  brought  to  Rome. 
It  was  a  custom  among  the  early  Etruscans  to  slay  prisoners  upon 
the  warrior's  grave,  it  being  thought  that  the  spirit  of  the  dead 
delighted  in  the  blood  of  such  victims.  In  time  the  condemned 
prisoners  were  allowed  to  fight  and  kill  one  another,  this  being 
deemed  more  humane  than  their  cold-blooded  slaughter.  Thus  it 
happened  that  sentiments  of  humanity  gave  rise  to  an  institution 
which,  afterwards  perverted,  became  the  most  inhuman  of  any 
that  ever  existed  among  a  civilized  people. 

The  first  gladiatorial  spectacle  at  Rome  was  presented  by  two 
sons  at  the  funeral  of  their  father,  in  the  year  264  B.C.  This  exhi- 
bition was  arranged  in  one  of  the  forums,  as  there  were  at  that 

time  no  amphitheatres  in 
existence.  From  this  time 
the  public  taste  for  this 
species  of  entertainment 
grew  rapidly,  and  by  the 
beginning  of  the  imperial 
period  had  mounted  into 
a  perfect  passion.  It  was 
now  no  longer  the  manes  of 
the  dead,  but  the  spirits 
of  the  living,  that  they  were 
intended  to  appease.  At 
first  the  combatants  were  slaves,  captives,  or  condemned  criminals ; 
but  at  last  knights,  senators,  and  even  women  descended  into  the 
arena.  Training-schools  were  established  at  Rome,  Capua,  Ra- 
venna, and  other  cities.  Free  citizens  often  sold  themselves  to  the 
keepers  of  these  seminaries ;  and  to  them  flocked  desperate  men 
of  all  classes,  and  ruined  spendthrifts  of  the  noblest  patrician 
houses.  Slaves  and  criminals  were  encouraged  to  become  pro- 
ficient in  this  art  by  the  promise  of  fi-eedom  if  they  survived  the 
combats  beyond  a  certain  number  of  years. 

Sometimes  the  gladiators  fought  in  pairs ;  again,  great  compa- 


GLAOIATORS.     (After  an  ancient  Mosaic.) 


THE   GLADIATORIAL   COMBATS. 


219 


nies  engaged  at  once  in  the  deadly  fray.  They  fought  in  chariots, 
on  horseback,  on  foot  —  in  all  the  wavs  that  soldiers  were  accus- 
tomed  to  fight  in  actual  battle.  The  contestants  were  armed  with 
lances,  swords,  daggers,  tridents,  and  every  manner  of  weapon. 
Some  were  provided  with  nets  and  lassos,  with  which  they  entan- 
gled their  adversaries,  and  then  slew  them. 

The  life  of  a  wounded  gladiator  was  in  the  hands  of  the  audi- 
ence. If  in  response  to  his  appeal  for  mercy,  which  was  made  by 
outstretching  the  forefinger,  the  spectators  reached  out  their  hands 
with  thumbs  turned  down,  that  indicated  that  his  prayer  had  been 
heard  and  that  the  sword  was  to  be  sheathed ;  but  if  they  ex- 
tended their  hands  with  thumbs  turned  up,  that  was  the  signal  for 
the  victor  to  complete  his  work  upon  his  wounded  foe.  Some- 
times the  dying  were  aroused  and  forced  on  to  the  fight  by  burn- 
ing with  a  hot  iron.-  The  dead  bodies  were  dragged  from  the 
arena  with  hooks,  like  the  carcasses  of  animals,  and  the  pools  of 
blood  soaked  up  with  dry  sand. 

These  shows  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  they  entirely  over- 
shadowed the  entertainments  of  the  circus  and  the  theatre.  Am- 
bitious officials  and  commanders  arranged  such  spectacles  in  order 
to  curry  favor  with  the  masses ;  magistrates  were  expected  to  give 
them  in  connection  with  the  public  festivals  ;  the  heads  of  aspiring 
families  exhibited  them  "  in  order  to  acquire  social  position " ; 
wealthy  citizens  prepared  them  as  an  indispensable  feature  of  a 
fashionable  banquet ;  the  children  caught  the  spirit  of  their  elders 
and  imitated  them  in  their  plays.  The  demand  for  gladiators  was 
met  by  the  training-schools :  the  managers  of  these  hired  out 
bands  of  trained  men,  that  travelled  through  the  country  like  opera 
troupes  among  us,  and  gave  exhibitions  in  private  houses  or  in  the 
provincial  amphitheatres. 

The  rivalries  between  ambitious  leaders  during  the  later  years 
of  the  republic  tended  gready  to  increase  the  number  of  gladiato- 
rial shows,  as  liberality  in  arranging  these  spectacles  was  a  sure 
passport  to  popular  favor.  It  was  reserved  for  the  emperors,  how- 
ever, to  exhibit  them  on  a  truly  imperial  scale.     Titus,  upon  the 


220 


SOCIAL  LIFE. 


\{ 


% 


dedication  of  the  Flavian  Amphitheatre,  provided  games,  mostly 
gladiatorial  combats,  that  lasted  one  hundred  days.  Trajan  cele- 
brated his  victories  with  shows  that  continued  still  longer,  in  the 
progress  of  which  10,000  gladiators  fought  upon  the  arena,  and 
more  than  10,000  wild  beasts  were  slain.  (For  the  suppression 
of  the  gladiatorial  games,  see  p.  162.) 

State  Distribution  of  Corn.  —  The  free  distribution  of  corn  at 
Rome  has  been  characterized  as  the  "leading  fact  of  Roman  life." 
It  will  be  recalled  that  this  pernicious  practice  had  its  beginnings 
in  the  legislation  of  Gaius  Gracchus  (see  p.  81).  Just  before  the 
establishment  of  the  empire,  over  300,000  Roman  citizens  were 
recipients  of  this  state  bounty.  In  the  time  of  the  Antonines  the 
number  is  asserted  to  have  been  even  larger.  The  corn  for  this 
enormous  distribution  was  derived  in  large  part  from  a  grain  tribute 
exacted  of  the  African  and  other  corn-producing  provinces.  The 
evils  that  resulted  from  this  misdirected  state  charity  can  hardly 
be  overstated.  Idleness  and  all  its  accompanying  vices  were  fos- 
tered to  such  a  degree  that  we  probably  shall  not  be  wrong  in 
enumerating  the  practice  as  one  of  the  most  prominent  causes  of 
the  demoralization  of  society  at  Rome  under  the  emperors. 

Slavery.  —  A  still  more  demoralizing  element  in  Roman  life 
than  that  of  the  state  largesses  of  corn,  was  the  institution  of 
slavery.  The  number  of  slaves  in  the  Roman  state  under  the 
later  republic  and  the  earlier  empire  vv;is  probably  as  great  or 
even  greater  than  the  number  of  freemen.  The  love  of  ostenta- 
tion led  to  the  multiplication  of  offices  in  the  households  of  the 
wealthy,  and  the  employment  of  a  special  slave  for  every  different 
kind  of  work.  Thus  there  was  the  slave  called  the  satidalio,  whose 
sole  duty  it  was  to  care  for  his  master's  sandals;  and  another, 
called  the  nomenclator,  whose  exclusive  business  it  was  to  accom- 
pany his  master  when  he  went  upon  the  street,  and  give  him  the 
names  of  such  persons  as  he  ought  to  recognize.  The  price  of 
slaves  varied  from  a  few  dollars  to  ten  or  twenty  thousand  dollars, 
—  these  last  figures  being  of  course  exceptional.    Greek  slaves 


SLAVERY, 


221 


were  the  most  valuable,  as  ttieir  lively  intelligence  rendered  them 
serviceable  in  positions  calling  for  special  talent. 

The  slave  class  was  recruited  chiefly,  as  in  Greece,  by  war,  and 
by  the  practice  of  kidnapping.  Some  of  the  outlying  provinces 
in  Asia  and  Africa  were  almost  depopulated  by  the  slave-hunters. 
Dehnquent  tax-payers  were  often  sold  as  slaves,  and  frequently 
poor  persons  sold  themselves  into  servitude. 

Slaves  were  treated  better  under  the  empire  than  under  the  later 
republic  —  a  change  to  be  attributed  doubdess  to  the  humanizing 
influence  of  the  Stoical  philosophy  and  of  Christianity.  The 
feeling  entertained  towards  this  unfortunate  class  in  the  later 
republican  period  is  illustrated  by  Varro's  classification  of  slaves 
as  "  vocal  agricultural  implements,"  and  again  by  Cato  the  Elder's 
recommendation  that  old  and  worn-out  slaves  be  sold,  as  a  matter 
of  economy.  Sick  and  hopelessly  infirm  slaves  were  taken  to  an 
island  in  the  Tiber  and  left  there  to  die  of  starvation  and  exposure. 
In  many  cases,  as  a  measure  of  precaution,  the  slaves  were  forced 
to  work  in  chains,  and  to  sleep  in  subterranean  prisons.  Their 
bitter  hatred  towards  their  masters,  engendered  by  harsh  treat- 
ment, is  witnessed  by  the  well-known  proverb,  "  As  many  enemies 
as  slaves,"  and  by  the  servile  revolts  and  wars  of  the  republican 
period.  But  from  the  first  century  of  the  empire  there  is  observ- 
able a  growing  sentiment  of  humanity  towards  the  bondsman. 
Imperial  edicts  take  away  from  the  master  the  right  to  kill  his 
slave,  or  to  sell  him  to  the  trader  in  gladiators,  or  even  to  treat 
him  with  any  undue  severity.  This  marks  the  beginning  of  a  slow 
reform  which  in  the  course  of  ten  or  twelve  centuries  resulted  in 
the  complete  abolition  of  slavery  in  Christian  Europe. 


f   I 


Ill; 


1 


INDEX  AND  PRONOUNCING  VOCABULARY 


FOR   PART   SECOND. 


JsJoYK.  —  In  the  case  of  words  whose  correct  pronunciation  has  not  seemed  clearly  indicated 
by  their  accentuation  and  syllabication,  the  sounds  of  the  letters  have  been  denoted  thus:  a, 
like  a  in  gray;  S,  like  a  in  /idve;  a,  like  a  in  far;  e,  like  ee  xn/eH;  §,  like  e  in  ^«<//  e  and 
ch,  like  k;  9,  like  s;  g,  like  //  s,  like  z. 


A. 

Ac'ti-um,  battle  of,  116. 
A'dri-an-o'ple,  battle  of,  160. 
^-ga'tian  Islands,  naval  battle  near, 

^'mil-i-a'nus,  Scipio,  75,  76. 

iE-ne'as,  17. 

yE'qui-ans,  25. 

A-e'ti-us,  Roman  general,  168. 

A-gric'o-la,  132. 

Agriculture,  state  of,  in  Italy,  78-80; 

in  Sicily,  77. 
A-grip'pa,  M.,  176. 
Ag'rip-pi'na,  129. 

Aix-la-Chapelle  (5ks-la-sha-pel'),  185. 
A-la'ni,  167. 

Al'a-ric,  161,  164,  165,  166. 
Alba  Longa,  3,  4,  1 7. 
Al'e-man'ni,  157. 
A-le'si-a,  103. 
Al'li-a,  battle  of  the,  32. 
Alps,  Hannibal's  passage  of,  58. 
Amphitheatres,    Roman,     177,    179; 

shows  of,  219. 
A-mu'li-us,  17,  18. 
An'cus  Mar'ci-us,  6. 
Andalusia  (an-da-loo-the^a),  167. 
An'dro-ni'cus,  L.,  194. 
A'ni-o,  river,  183. 
Antioch,  city  of,  121. 
An-ti'o-chus  the  Great,  70. 


An'to-ni'nus  Pi'us,  Roman  emperor, 

139- 
Antony,  Mark,  his  oration  at  Caesar's 

funeral,  lii;    usurpations  of,  112; 

revels  with   Cleopatra,  115;    flees 

from  Actium,  116;    his  death,  116. 
Appian  Way,  180. 
Ap'pi-us  Clau'di-us  Cse'cus,  40. 
Ap'pi-us  Clau'di-us,  the  decemvir,  28. 
A-pu'li-a,  I. 

A'quae  Sex'ti-ae,  battle  of,  84,  note. 
Aqueducts,  Roman,  182. 
Ar-ca'di-us,  Eastern  Roman  emperor, 

160,  161. 
Ar'chi-me'des,  64. 
Architecture,  Roman,  1 75-189. 
A-rim'i-num,  179. 
Ar-min'i-us,  122. 
Ar'no,  river,  2. 
Ar-ver'ni,  103. 
As-ca'ni-us,  17. 
At'ti-la,  168,  169. 
Au'fi-dus,  river,  2. 
Augurs,  college  of,  at  Rome,  13. 
Au'gus-tine,  Au-re'li-us,  212. 
Au-gus'tu-lus,  last   Roman   emperor, 

in  the  West,  171. 
Au-re^i-an,  Roman  emperor,  150. 
Au-re'li-us,  Marcus,  Roman  emperor, 

140-142,  210. 

Av'en-tine,  the,  8. 

223 


224 


INDEX. 


Ba'den-BaMen,  185. 

Bai'ae  (ba'ye),  129. 

Ba'sil,  212. 

Ben'e-ven'tum,  battle  of,  40. 

Ber'nard,  St.,  Pass  of  Little,  58b 

Bes'ti-a,  consul,  82. 

Bib'u-lus,  107. 

Bo'i-i,  53 

Bren'nus,  ^2- 

Britain  invaded  hy  Caesar,  101-103; 
conquered  by   Claudius,   128;    in- 
vaded by  the  Angles  and  Saxons, 
167. 
Brun-di'si-um,  106. 
Brut'ti-um,  i. 
Brutus,  L.  Junius,  21. 
Brutus,  the  liberator,  iii,  114. 
Bur-gun'di-ans,  167, 
Bur'rhus,  129. 
Bu'sen-ti'nus,  river,  167. 
By-zan'ti-um,  154,  155. 

C. 

Caesar,  Augustus  (see  Octavius). 

Caesar,  Gaius  (see  Caiigitia). 

Caesar,  Julius,  proscribed  by  Sulla, 
91;  early  life,  99;  debts,  loo; 
forms  the  First  Triumvirate,  loi; 
his  campaigns  in  Gaul  and  Britain, 
loi;  crosses  the  Rubicon,  105;  be- 
comes master  of  Italy,  106;  de- 
feats Pompey  at  Pharsalus,  107; 
in  Eg>'pt,  108;  defeats  Pharnaces, 
108;  crushes  Pompeians  at  Thap- 
sus,  io8;  his  triumph,  108;  his 
genius  as  a  statesman,  109;  his 
death,  no;  literary  works,  206. 

Cae-sa'ri-on,  116. 

Ca-la'bri-a,  i. 

Ca-lig'u-la,  127. 


Ca-mfllus,  33. 
Cam-pa'ni-a,  i. 
Can'nse,  battle  of,  62. 
Can'u-le'i-us,  Ga'i-us,  27,  note. 
Canuleian  Law,  27,  note. 
Cap'i-tol-ine  hill,  9. 
Capitoline  temple,  8,  175,  note. 
Ca'pre-ae,  island  of,  126, 
Cap'u-a,  65. 

Car'a-cal'la,  Roman  emperor,  147. 
Ca-rac'ta-cus,  129. 

Carthage,   42;    empire  of,  42;   com- 
pared with   Rome,  43;    destroyed 
by  Romans,  75;   rebuilt  by  Julius 
Caesar,  109;  made  capital  of  Van- 
dal empire,  167. 
Carthage,  New,  in  Spain,  55. 
Cas'si-us,  the  liberator,  1 14. 
Catacombs,  Roman,  152. 
Cat'i-line,  98,  99. 
Cato,  M.  P.  Uticensis,  108. 
Cato,  the  Censor,  73. 
Ca-tuFlus,  197. 
Cat'u-lus,  84. 
Cel'ti-be'ri-ans,  76. 
Censors,  Roman,  30. 
Cer-ci'na,  island  of,  89. 
Chaion  (sha'15n'),  battle  of,  168. 
Charlemagne  (shar'le-man'),  185. 
Chinese  Wall,  158,  note. 
Christ,  birth  of,   122;    crucifixion  of, 

126. 
Christian  Fathers,  the,  212. 
Christians,  persecutions  of,  130,  137, 

140,  141,  152. 
Christianity,  under  Constantine,  153, 
155;  under  Julian  the  Apostate, 
156;  under  Jovian,  157;  conver- 
sion to,  of  the  Goths,  158;  effects 
upon,  of  the  fall  of  Rome,  166; 
Christianity  and    the    gladiatorial 


INDEX. 


225 


combats,    162;    in   the   provinces, 

137- 

■Ghrys'os-tom,  212. 

Cicero,  Marcus  Tullius,  95,  99,  113; 
his  works,  204, 

Cim'bri,  83. 

Cin'cin-na'tus,  25. 

Cin'e-as,  39. 

Cin'na,  89. 

Cir-ce'i-i  (se'ye),  88. 

Cir-cen'sian  games,  15. 

Cir'cus  Max'i-mus,  8,  176. 

Civil  war,  between  Caesar  and  Pom- 
pey, 106 ;  between  Marius  and 
Sulla,  87. 

Claudian  aqueduct,  183. 

Claudius,  Roman  emperor,  128. 

Clement,  of  Rome,  212. 

of  Alexandria,  212. 

Cle'o-pa'tra,  108,  115,  116,  117. 

•Clo-a'ca  Maxima,  7. 

-Co'cles,  Ho-ra'ti-us,  19. 

Col'la-ti'nus,  Tar-quin'i-us,  21. 

Colonies,  Roman,  41,  note.  , 
Latin,  41,  note. 

Col'os-se'um,  133,  178. 

■Co-mi'ti-a  centuriata,  9. 
curiata,  5. 
tributa,  25,  note. 

Co-mi'ti-um,  the,  7. 

Com'mo-dus,  Roman  emperor,  144. 

Constantine  II.,  155. 

Constantine  the  Great,  153-155. 

Constantinople,  city  of,  155. 

Con-stan'ti-us  I.,  153;   XL,  155,  156. 

Consuls,  Roman,  first,  21. 

Cor-fin'i-um,  86. 

Corinth,  destruction  of,  71. 

'  Co'ri-o-la'nus,  24. 

Corn,  free  distribution  of,  at  Rome, 
221. 


Cor-ne1i-a,  mother  of  the  Gracchi,  81. 

Cor'pus  Ju'ris  Ci-vi'lis,  213-216. 

Cor'si-ca,  52. 

Council,  first,  of  Church,  154. 

Cras'sus,  M.  L.,  100,  103. 

Cre-mo'na,  54. 

Cu'ri-ae,  4. 

Cu'ri-a'ti-i,  19. 

CuM-o,  107,  177. 

Cyn'os-ceph'a-lae,  battle  of,  69. 

D. 

Decemvirs,  first  board,  26;    second, 

28. 
De'ci-us,  Roman  emperor,  149. 
Dictator,  office  of,  21,  note. 
Di'o-cle'ti-an,  Roman  emperor,  151- 

153- 

Do-mi'ti-an,  Roman  emperor,  134. 

Drama,  the,  among  the  Romans,  193- 

195- 
Drep'a-na,  defeat  of  Romans  at,  49,  n. 

Dru'sus,  86. 

Du-il'li-us,  C,  46. 

Dyr-ra'chi-um,  107. 

E. 

Eastern  Roman  Empire,  161. 

Ec-no'mus,  naval  battle  of,  47,  note. 

E-des'sa,  149,  note. 

Education  among  the  Romans,  216. 

El'a-gab'a-lus,  148. 

En'ni-us,  194. 

Ep'ic-te'tus,  210. 

E-tru'ri-a,  i. 

E-trus'cans,  3. 

Eu-dox'i-a,  170. 

Eu'me-nes,  71. 

F. 

Fa'bi-us  Quintus,  56. 
Fa'bi-us,  the  delayer,  69. 


J 


;l 


h 


226  INDEX. 


4ii 

ill 


Fa-bric'i-us,  40. 
Fas'ces,  21. 

Ham'i-ni'nus,  consul,  69,  70. 
Forum,  Roman,  7. 
Fron-ti'nus,  212. 

Galba,  Roman  emperor,  131. 

Ga-le'ri-us,  Roman  emperor,  153. 

Gal'li-a  Cis'al-pi'na,  i. 

Gallic  wars,  10 1- 103. 

Gauls  settle  in  Italy,  3;  sack  Rome, 
31;  war  with,  53;  conquered  by- 
Caesar,  lOI. 

Gen'ser-ic  (Geiseric),  king  of  the 
Vandals,  170. 

Ger-man'i-cus,  124. 

Ge'ta,  Roman  emperor,  147. 

Gladiatorial  combats,  219;  suppres- 
sion of,  162. 

Gladiators,  war  of  the,  93. 

Golden  house  of  Nero,  131,  186. 

Gor'dian,  Roman  emperor,  149. 

Goths,  cross  the  Danube,  158.  (See 
Alaric.) 

Grac'chi,  reforms  of,  80, 

Gracchus,  Gaius,  81. 

Tiberius,  80. 

Gra'ti-an,  Roman  emperor,  158,  159, 
160. 

Great  fire  at  Rome,  130. 

H. 

HaMri-an,  Roman  emperor,  137-139. 

Hadrian's  Mole,  189. 

Ha-mil'car,  50,  54,  55. 

Han'ni-bal,  his  vow,  55;  attacks 
Saguntum,  55;  crosses  the  Pyr- 
enees,  58;    crosses  the  Alps.  58; 


his  policy  in  Italy,  59 ;    at  Capua, 

64;    before  Rome,  65;   defeated  at 

Za'ma,  68;   his  death,  72. 
Ilan'no,  Carthaginian  admiral,  51. 
Ha-rus'pi-ces,  art  of  the,  1 3. 
Has'dru-bal,  Hannibal's  brother,  65, 

66,  67. 
Has'dru-bal,  son-in-law  of  Hamilcar, 

55- 
Hel-ve'tians,  102. 

Her'a-cle'a,  battle  of,  39. 

Heralds,  college  of,  at  Rome,  14. 

Her'cu-la'ne-um,  134. 

Her'mann  (see  Arminius)^ 

Her'u-li,  171. 

Hi'e-ro,  king  of  Syracuse,  45,  64. 

Ho-no'ri-us,    Roman   emperor,   160, 

162,  164. 

Horace,  201. 

Ho-ra'ti-i,  the,  19. 

Hor-ten'si-us,  204. 

Hun-ga'ri-ans,  169. 

Huns,  158,  168,  169. 

I. 

I'a-pyg'i-ans,  3,  note. 

Il-lyr'i-an  corsairs,  53. 

Italians,  3. 

Italy,  divisions  of,  i ;  early  inhabitants 

of,  3- 

J. 

Ja-nic'u-lum,  the,  20. 
Ja'nus,  Temple  of,  12. 
Jerome,  212. 
Jerusalem,  97,  132,  139. 
Jovian,  Roman  emperor,  157. 
Ju-gur'tha,  war  with,  81. 
Julian  the  Apostate,  156. 
Ju-li-a'nus,  Did'i-us,  146. 


1,  n « 


INDEX. 


22'/ 


Juno,  4. 

Jupiter,  II. 

Jus-tin'i-an,  emperor,  214,  215. 

Justin  Martyr,  141. 

Ju've-nal,  203. 

L. 

Lab'a-rum,  the,  154,  note. 
Latin  cities,  revolt  of,  yj. 

colonies,  note  41. 

language,  spread  of,    191 ;    used 
by  early  Christian  writers,  212. 
Latins,  3. 

La-ti'nus,  King,  17. 
La'ti-um,  i,  3. 
La-vin'i-a,  17. 
La-vin'i-um,  17. 
Lep'i-dus,  112,  113,  114. 
Lib'y-ans,  56. 
Licinian  laws,  35. 
Li-cin'i-us,  C,  35. 
Li-gu'ri-a,  i. 
Ligurians,  3,  note. 
Li'ris,  river,  2. 

Literature,  Roman,  189-216. 
Liv'i-us,  M.,  consul,  66. 
Livy,  the  historian,  206. 
Lon-gi'nus,  150. 
Longus,  L.  Sempronius,  59. 
Lu'can,  203,  note. 
Lu-ca'ni-a,  i. 
Luc'ca,  103. 
Lu-cil'i-us,  poet,  196. 
Lu-cre'ti-us,  196. 
Lu-cul'lus,  the  consul,  97. 
Lu'si-ta'ni-a,  93. 

Jl. 

Ma-cri'nus,  Roman  emperor,  148. 
Mag-ne'si-a,  battle  of,  70. 


Magyers  (mod'yors),  169. 
Ma-har'bal,  63. 
Mam'er-tines,  44,  note. 
Manlius,  2>2>^  34. 
Mar-cel'lus,  Marcus  C,  64. 
Mar-cel'lus,     nephew    of    Augustus, 

122. 
Ma'ri-us,  Ga'i-us,  83-85,  87-90. 
Mars,  II. 
Marsic  War,  85. 
Martial,  203. 

Mas'i-nis'sa,  king  of  Numidia,  73. 
Max-en'ti-us,  188. 

Max-im'i-an,  emperor,  151,  152,  153. 
Max'i-min,  149. 
Mes-sa'na,  44. 

Me'-tau'rus,  liattle  of  the,  66. 
Military  roads,  Roman,  179-182. 
Military  tribunes,  28. 
Minerva,  II. 
Min-tur'nge,  88. 
Mi-nu'ci-us,  co-dictator  with  Fabius, 

61. 
Mith'ra-da'tes  the  Great,  87,  90,  97. 
Mu'ci-us  Scaev'o-la,  20. 
Mum'mi-us,  consul,  71. 
Mun'da,  battle  of,  108,  note. 
My'lae,  naval  battle  near,  46. 

N. 

Nae'vi-us,  194. 

Ne-pos,  Cornelius,  206,  note. 
Nero,  C.  Claudius,  consul,  67. 
Nero,  Roman  emperor,  1 29-1 31: 
Nerva,  Roman  emperor,  135. 
Ni-^ae'a,  154. 
No'men-cla'tor,  221. 
Nu-man'ti-a,  75. 
Nu'ma,  6. 
Nu'mi-tor,  17,  18. 


228 


INDEX. 


ill 
it 

I 


n! 


I 


Oc-ta'vi-us,  113;  enters  Second  Tri- 
umvirate, 113;  divides  the  world 
with  Antony,  114;  defeats  Antony 
at  battle  of  Actium,  116;  reign  of, 
119-123. 

Od'e-na'tus,  150. 

Od'o-va'ker,  171,  172. 

Op'ti-mates,  80. 

Oracles,  13. 

O-res'tes,  171. 

Or'i-gen,  212. 

Os'tro-goths,  159. 

O'tho,  Roman  emperor,  1 31. 

Ov'id,  201. 

F. 

Pal'a-tine  (tin),  8. 

Palmyra,  150. 

Pandects,  215. 

Pa-nor'mus,  battle  of,  48. 

Pan'the-on,  the,  1 76. 

Pa-pin'i-an,  147,  214. 

Parthians,  104. 

Patricians,  4,  5. 

Paulus,  Roman  jurist,  214. 

Paulus  Lucius  /E-mil'i-us,  62,  note. 

Per'ga-mus,  71. 

Per'seus,  king  of  Macedonia,  71. 

Per'si-us,  203. 

Per'ti-nax,  Roman  emperor,  146. 

Phie'drus,  212. 

Phar'na-ces,  98,  108. 

Phar'sa-lus,  battle  of,  107. 

Philip,  Roman  emperor,  149. 

Phi-Vpi,  battle  of,  114. 

Pi-ce'num,  i. 

Pictor,  Fabius,  205. 

Picts,  167. 

Pirates,  defeated  by  Pompey,  96. 


Pis-to'ri-a,  99. 

ria-cen'ti-a,  54. 

riau'tus,  195. 

Plebeians  (ple-be'yaus),  5;  first  se- 
cession of,  22;  admitted  to  the 
consulship,  34. 

Pliny  the  Elder,  209:    the  Younger, 

137- 

PcE'ni,  44,  note. 

Pol'y-carp,  141. 

Pompeii  (pom-pa'yee),  134,  note. 
Pompey  the  Great,  in  Spain,  93;   de- 
feats gladiators,  94;  defeats  pirates, 
96;  conducts  the  Mithradatic  war, 
97;  conquers  Syria,  97 ;  his  triumph, 
98;    enters   the   triumvirate,    loi; 
receives  the  government  of  Spain, 
104;    seeks   popularity,  104;    flees 
before   Ctesar    into    Greece,    106; 
defeated    at    Pharsalus,    107;    his 
death,  107. 
Pompey,  Gnce'us,  108,  note. 
Sextus,  108,  note. 
Pom-po'ni-us,  Roman  jurist,  214. 
Pontiffs,  college  of,  at  Rome,  13. 
Pon'tine  marshes,  109. 
Por-sen'na,  king  of  Clusium,  19,  20. 
Por'tus  Ro-ma'nus,  129. 
Posilippo     (pose-lep'po),   grotto    of 

the,  181. 
Prx-to'ri-an  guard,  formation  of,  123; 

disbanded  by  Severus,  1 46. 
Pro-per'ti-us,  202. 
Province,  first  Roman,  52. 
Public  lands  in  Italy,  78. 
Punic  War,  first,  42-51- 

second,  56-68. 
third,  73,  74- 
Pu-te'o-li,  92. 
Pyd'na,  battle  of,  71. 
Pyr'rhus,  38-40. 


INDEX. 


229 


Q 

Quaestor    (kwes'tor),    office    of,    21, 

note. 
Quin-til'i-an,  the  rhetorician,  211. 

R. 

Rad-a-gai'sus,  163. 

Ram'nes,  4. 

Reg'u-lus,  Atilius,  47,  49. 

Religion,  Roman,  10-16. 

Re'mus,  17,  18. 

Rhe'a  Syl'vi-a,  17. 

Rhe'gi-um,  44. 

Rhe'nus,  river,  113. 

Roman  Empire,  extent  of,  under  Au- 
gustus, 120;  sale  of,  146;  final  di- 
vision of,  160;  Eastern,  161;  clos- 
ing history  of  Western,  161-172. 

Rome,  location  of,  4;  founding  of,  4; 
hills  of,  4;  causes  of  rapid  growth, 
6,  note;  classes  of  society  during 
regal  period,  5;  early  government, 
4;  kings  of,  6;  sacked  by  the 
Gauls,  31;  population  of,  121 ;  last 
triumph  at,  162;  ransom  of,  164; 
sack  of,  by  Alaric,  165;  sack  of,  by 
the  Vandals,  170. 

Rom'u-lus,  17,  18. 

Ros'trum,  Roman,  7,  note. 

Ru^bi-con,  Oesar  crosses,  105. 

Rutulians,  7. 

S. 
Sabines,  18. 
Sa-gun'tum,  55. 
Sal'lust,  206. 
Sa-lo'na,  153. 
Samnite  War,  first,  35. 

second,  38. 

third,  38. 
Sam'ni-um,  i. 


Sa'por,  king  of  Persia,  149,  note. 

Sar-din'i-a,  52. 

Sat'ur-na'li-a,  16,  note. 

Saxons,  157. 

Scipio   .^'mil-i-a'nus  (Africanus  Mi- 
nor), 76. 
Asiaticus,  70,  71. 
Publius   Cornelius  (Africanus 
Major),  66,  67,  68,  72. 

Se-ja'nus,  126. 

Sen'e-ca,  131,  208. 

Sen-ti'num,  battle  at,  38. 

Ser-to'ri-us,  93. 

Servile  wars  in  Sicily,  77,  78,  note. 

Ser'vi-us  Tul'li-us,  6,  9. 

Se-ve'rus,  Alexander,  148. 
Sep-tim'i-us,  146. 

Shiraz  (she'raz),  149,  note. 

Sib'yl-line  books,  13. 

Sicily,  island  of,  2. 

Sil'a-rus,  defeat  of  gladiators  at,  94. 

Slavery,  Roman,  5,  77,  221. 

Social  life  among  the  Romans,  216- 
223. 

Social  war  in  Italy,  85. 

So'ci-i,  relations  to  Roman  govern- 
ment, 85,  note. 

Spain,  civil  war  in,  93. 

Spar'ta-cus,  93. 

Sta'ti-us,  203,  note. 

Stil'i-cho,  161,  162,  163,  164. 

Sue-to'ni-us,  135. 

Sue'vi,  167. 

Sulla,  fights  under  Marius  in  Africa, 
83;  secures  command  of  Mithra- 
datic expedition,  87;  brings  war 
to  a  close,  90;  return  to  Rome,  90 ; 
his  proscriptions,  91;  his  death,  92. 

Sul-pic'i-us,  Publius,  orator,  204. 

Su'o-ve-tau-ril'i-a,  15. 

Syr'a-cuse,  64. 


230 


INDEX. 


T. 

Tac'i-tus,  the  historian,  207. 
Tad'mor  (see  Palmyra). 
Ta-ren'tum,  38,  40. 
Tar-pe'i-an  Rock,  34,  note. 
Tar-quin'i-us  Pris'cus,  6. 

Su-per'bus,  6,  10. 
Tel'a-mon,  battle  near,  54. 
Te-lera'a-chus,  monk,  163. 
Ter'ence,  195. 

Teu'to-nes,  defeated  by  Marius,  83, 84. 
Thap'sus,  battle  of,  108. 
Theatres,  Roman,  177. 
The-od'o-ric  the  Visigoth,  168. 
The'o-do'si-us  the  Great,  160. 
Ther'mae,  Roman,  184. 
Thirty  Tyrants,  Age  of  the,  149. 
Ti-be'ri-us,    Roman    emperor,     123- 

127. 
Ti-bul'lus,  202. 
Ti-ci'nus,  battle  of  the,  59. 
Ti'tus,  captures  Jerusalem,  132;  reign 

of,  133;   Arch  of,  188. 
Ti'tus  Ta'ti-us,  19. 
Tiv'o-li,  186. 

Trajan,  Roman  emperor,  135. 
Tras-i-me'nus,  Lake,  battle  of,  59. 
Tre'bi-a,  battle  of,  59. 
Tri-bo'ni-an,  Roman  jurist,  215. 
Tribunes,  Roman,  23. 
Tri-um'vi-rate,  First,  loi;    renewed, 

103;  Second,  112. 
Truceless  war,  54. 
Tul'lus  Hos-til'i-us,  6. 
Twelve  tables  of  Roman  law,  26. 


U. 


Ul'pi-an,  214. 
Um'bri-a,  l. 
Utica,  74. 


V. 

Va'lens,  Roman  emperor,  157,  158, 

160. 
Val'en-tin'i-an,  Roman  emperor,  157, 

158. 
Va-le'ri-an,    Roman    emperor,    149, 

note. 

« 

Va-le'ri-us,  Pub'li-us,  22. 

Van'dals,  167,  170. 

Var'ro,  208. 

Varro,  Gains  Te-ren'ti-us,  consul,  62, 

note. 
Va'rus,  defeated  by  Hermann,  122. 
Veii  (ve'yi),  siege  of,  30. 
Ven'e-ti,  102. 
Ve-ne'ti-a,  i. 
Ver-cel'lae,  battle  of,  85. 
Ver'cin-get'o-rix,  103. 
Ver'res,  abuses  of,  95. 
Vespasian    (  ves-pa'zhi-an  ),   Roman 

emperor,  1 31-133. 
Ves'ta,  temple  of,  8;   worship  of,  12. 
Villas,  Roman,  186. 
VinMo-bo'na,  142. 
Virginia,  28. 
Virgil,  198-201. 
Vir'i-a'thus,  76. 
Vis'i-goths,  158. 

Vi-tel'li-us,  Roman  emperor,  131. 
Volscians,  25. 

W. 

Women,  social  position  of,  among  the 
Romans,  217. 

X. 

Xan-thip'pus,  47,  note. 

Z. 

Za'ma,  battle  of,  67. 
Zela,  battle  of,  108. 
Ze-noHji-a,  150. 


I 


ADVERTISEMENTS 


I 


HISTORY. 


-•o«- 


The  publishers  feel  urged  by  the  enthusiasm  of  teachers  to 
emphasize  the  importance  of  their  histories,  especially  Myers's  and 
Montgomery's  series.  These  books  appear  to  possess  merits  of  the 
highest  order  and  in  a  remarkable  way  to  combine  individuality 
with  an  excellence  common  to  all. 

The  most  evident,  and  not  the  least  important  of  their  merits,  is 
a  most  interesting  style.  Many  a  teacher  thoroughly  familiar  with 
the  subject,  and  even  weary  of  it,  has  taken  up  one  of  the  books 
for  a  cursory  inspection  and  become  so  fascinated  with  the  clear- 
ness, freshness,  and  picturesqueness  of  the  style  as  to  read  on,— 
not  infrequently  even  to  the  end  of  the  volume.  This  attiactive- 
ness  in  works  designed  for  beginners,  is  no  slight  recommendation. 
Later  on,  historical  investigation  may  be  inviting  for  its  own  sake. 
At  the  outset,  interest  requires  to  be  developed. 

This  quality  of  style  introduces  us  to  the  other  characteristics 
of  the  treatment.  History  is  the  drama  of  humanity,  and  it  is 
only  because  the  author  realizes  this  profoundly  and  fully,  and  is 
thoroughly  at  home  with  the  facts,  that  can  make  his  story  live, 
and  bring  his  studies  into  touch  with  matters  of  present  human 
interest. 

A  philosophical  conception  of  history  and  a  broad  view  of  its 
developments,  accurate  historical  scholarship,  and  liberal  human 
sympathies  are  the  fundamental  characteristics  of  these  books. 
The  hand  of  a  master  is  shown  in  numberless  touches  that  illu- 
minate the  narrative  and  both  stimulate  and  satisfy  the  learner's 
curiosity. 

School-room  availability  has  been  most  carefully  studied,  and 
typographical  distinctness  and  beauty,  maps,  tables,  and  other 
accessories  have  received  their  due  of  attention. 


HISTORY. 


113 


A  General  History. 


For  High  Schools  and  Colleges. 

By  P.  V.  N.  Myers.  Professor  of  History,  University  of  Cincinnati; 
author  of  Ancient  History  and  Mediseval  and  Modern  History.  12mo. 
Half  leather,    x  +  759  pages.     Mailing  price,  ^1.05;  for  introduction, 

rpHIS  volume  is  based  upon  the  author's  Ancient  Histo^^  and 
Mediceval  and  Modern  History.  In  some  instances  tlie  perspeo 
fci\  e  and  the  proportions  of  the  narrative  have  been  changed  to  suit 
a  briefer  course  and  students  of  less  maturity ;  but  in  the  main, 
the  book  is  constructed  upon  the  same  lines  as  the  earlier  works. 

In  a  word,  this  history  is  believed  to  combine  all  the  qualities 
that  such  a  work  should  possess,  —  a  philosophic  eye  for  the  great 
line  of  development  of  the  life  of  the  race,  not  diverted  by  mere 
incidents;  candor  in  the  treatment  of  all  questions;  a  due  sense 
of  proportion ;  accuracy  of  scholarship ;  a  style  transparent  though 
at  the  same  time  full  of  color;  and  the  quality  of  teachableness. 

One  feature  of  the  greatest  interest  and  practical  value  is  this,  — 
the  author  not  only  brings  out  and  keeps  distinct  the  interrela- 
tions of  things,  but  he  notes  and  sets  clearly  before  the  reader  what 
each  nation  has  contributed  to  the  life  and  advancement  of  the 
race,  —  and  so  to  our  present  civilization.  Among  tlie  methods 
which  will  specially  recommend  themselves  to  teachers  is  the  plan 
of  cross-references  which  bind  the  branches  of  the  learner's  acquisi- 
tions compactly  and  vitally. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  add  that  the  book  has  been  found  to  be 
Just  about  full  enough,  and  that  the  text  is  fully  supplemented  by 
the  best  of  maps,  by  illustrations,  indexes,  and  tables- 
Its  adoption  in  many  leading  cities  and  institutions  after  ex- 
tended comparison  with  other  works  and  most  thorough  discussion, 
appears  to  indicate  that  this  work  is  destined  to  rank  as  the  best 
general  history. 


J.  W.  Steams,  Prof,  of  Pedagogy ^ 
University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison, 
Wis.:  Its  selection  of  topics  for 
treatment,  Its  conception  of  the  rela- 
tions of  parts  to  the  whole,  its  grasp 
ol  what  is  most  vital  in  the  history 
of  the  civilized  world,  together  with 
tlie  vividness  and  vitality  of  the  naiw 


rative  make  it  the  best  text-book  in 
universal  history  for  beginners  that 
we  are  acquainted  with.  It  is  well 
equipped  with  good  maps,  and  the 
numerous  illustrations  have  been  se- 
lected with  a  view  to  their  value  as 
elucidations  and  expansions  of  the 
text 


HISTORY. 


115 


The  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece. 

(Part  I.  of  Myers's  and  of  Myers  and  Allen's  Ancient  History.) 

By  P.  V.  N.  Myers,  Professor  of  History,  University  of  Cincinnati; 
author  of  Mediseval  and  Modern  History,  etc.  12mo.  Cloth,  ix  +  3G9 
pages.    Mailing  price,  $1.10;  for  introduction,  $1.00. 


rPHIS  work  embraces  the  history  of  the  Egyptians,  Assyrio- 
Babylonians,  Hebrews,  Phoenicians,  Lydians,  Medes  and  Per- 
sians, and  Greeks.  About  three-fifths  of  the  space  is  given  to 
Greece. 

The  chapters  relating  to  the  Eastern  tions  have  been  written 
in  the  light  of  the  most  recent  revelations  of  the  monuments  of 
Egypt  and  Babylonia.  The  influence  of  Oriental  civilization  upon 
the  later  development  of  the  Western  peoples  has  been  fully  indi- 
cated. It  is  shown  that  before  the  East  gave  a  religion  to  the 
West  it  had  imparted  many  primary  elements  of  art  and  general 
culture.  This  lends  a  sort  of  epic  unity  to  series  of  events  and 
historic  developments  too  often  regarded  as  fragmentary  and  un- 
related, and  invests  the  history  of  the  old  civilizations  of  the 
Orient  with  fresh  interest  and  instruction. 

In  tracing  the  growth  of  Greek  civ'lization,  while  the  value  erf 
the  germs  of  culture  which  the  Greeks  received  from  the  older 
nations  of  the  East  is  strongly  insisted  upon,  still  it  is  admitted 
that  the  determining  factor  in  the  wonderful  Greek  development 
was  the  peculiar  genius  of  the  Greek  race  itself. 

The  work  is  furnished  with  chronological  summaries,  colored 
maps,  and  numerous  illustrations  drawn  from  the  most  authentic 
som'ces.    See  also  Myers's  and  Myers  and  Allen'' s  Ancient  History. 


Arthur  Latham  Perry,  Emeritus 
Prof,  of  Political  Economy,  Williams 
College,  Mass. :  I  have  read  every 
word  of  Myers's  Eastern  Nations  and 
Greece,  and  wish  to  express  my  sense 
of  the  great  skill  and  elegance  with 
which  has  been  condensed  into  a 
single  small  volume  all  that  is  really 
most  important  to  be  known  of  the 
early  nations,  in  such  a  way  that  the 
memory  can  easily  hold  it,  and  that 
the  mind  is  satisfied  at  once  with  the 


facts  selected  and  the  taste  exhibited 
in  handling  them. 

I.  T.  Beckwith.  Prof,  of  Greek, 
Trinity  College,  Hartford,  Conn, : 
The  book  seems  to  me  remarkable  in 
its  comprehensiveness,  and  likewise 
in  the  clearness  and  life  with  which 
it  presents  the  leading  facts  in  each 
great  movement.  I  think  it  far  more 
interesting  and  useful  than  any  other 
epitome  of  the  kind  which  I  have 
seen. 


116 


HISTORY. 


A  History  of  Rome. 


(Part  //.  of  Myerses  Ancient  History,) 

By  P.  V.  N.  Myers»  Professor  of  History  in  the  University  of  Cincin- 
nati; author  of  Medixval  and  Modern  History ^  etc.  12mo.  Cloth. 
ix  +  230  pages.     Mailing  price,  $1.10;   for  introduction,  $1.00. 


pROFESSOR  MYERS'S  short  sketch  of  Roman  History,  which 
was  published  several  years  ago  by  Harper  and  Brothers 
merely  as  a  library  or  reading  book,  having  found  its  way  into  the 
schools  and  there  met  with  favor,  is  now  given  out  in  a  revised 
edition  especially  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  recitation  room.  The 
book  has  been  liberally  supplied  with  both  colored  and  black  maps, 
and  with  illustrations.  These  charts  and  cuts  are,  in  the  main, 
the  same  as  those  accompanying  Allen's  Short  History  of  the 
Roman  People.  As  to  the  text,  the  two  books  are  nmtually  supple- 
mentary. Professor  Myers's  work,  dealing  less  with  the  details  of 
constitutional  and  administrative  matters  than  Professor  Allen's 
does,  will  be  found  somewhat  better  adapted  than  the  latter  for 
classes  that  have  time  for  only  a  short  course  in  Roman  History. 

The  concluding  chapter  is  a  most  valuable  sketch  of  architecture, 
literature,  law,  and  social  life  among  the  Romans. 

See  also  Myers's  Ancient  History. 


W.O.  Sproull,  Pro/.  o/X«<m,  Uni- 
versity of  Cincinnati t  Ohio  :  I  have 
examined  it  with  care.  I  like  very 
much  the  fact  that  although  the  book 
is  condensed,  nevertheless  the  style  is 
attractive  and  will  interest  students. 
I  shall  gladly  recommend  it. 

D.  Y.  Comstock,  Teach,  of  Latin, 
Uotchkiss  School,  Lakeville,  Conn.: 
We  are  using  it  for  the  second  year. 
We  find  it  very  satisfactory  indeed. 

F.  M.  Taylor,  Prof,  of  History  and 
Politics  J  Albion  College,  Mich.  :  We 
want  a  book  somewhat  fuller  than 
the  average  outline,  —  sufficiently 
full  to  make  a  concrete,  definite, 
living  picture,  and  yet  not  so  full  as 
to  exceed  the  student's  powers  of 


assimilation.  We  want  a  book  which 
gives  some  idea  of  the  life  of  the 
people,  —  the  social,  literary,  relig- 
ious life,  —  and  yet  does  not  forget 
that  for  general  purposes  political 
history  must  always  constitute  the 
essential  framework.  We  want  a 
strong  book,  —  a  book  bringing  out 
the  deeper  and  more  important  rela- 
tions of  events,  —  and  yet  we  do 
not  want  one  so  strong  as  to  be 
suited  only  to  those  pupils  who 
have  already  mastered  the  field  and 
need  a  mere  recapitulation.  In 
tliese  various  particulars,  Myers's 
has  satisfied  our  instructors  better 
than  any  other  book  we  have  tried ; 
and  my  own  experience  with  the 
book  during  several  weeks  last  year 
has  led  me  to  share  their  opinion 


HISTORY. 


117 


A  Short  History  of  the  Roman  People. 

(Part  //.  of  Myers  and  Alien 's  Ancient  History.) 

By  William  F.  Allen,  late  Professor  of  History  in  the  University  of 
Wisconsin.  12mo.  Cloth,  xv  +  370  pages.  Furnished  with  numerous 
Illustrations  and  12  black  and  colored  Maps.  Mailing  Price.  Sl.lO-  for 
Introduction,  $1.0a  ,  s*        ,      r 

TN  this  book  Professor  Allen  desired  briefly  to  relate  the  history 
of  the  Roman  people.  To  him  Roman  society  presented  itself 
as  an  entu-ety,  so  that  the  political,  economic,  literary,  and  religious 
elements  in  the  life  of  the  Roman  people  could  not  be  understood 
in  isolation,  but  only  in  relation  with  each  other.  While  thus  he 
considered  society  as  a  whole,  he  found  in  Roman  liistory  two 
fundamentally  important  series  of  events,  each  of  which  influenced 
the  other:  first,  the  policy  and  process  by  which  the  Roman  Do- 
minion was  secured  and  organized  during  the  Republic,  its  reor- 
ganization under  the  Empire,  and  final  disruption  at  the  time  of 
the  German  migrations;  and  secondly,  the  social  and  economic 
causes  of  the  failure  of  self-government  among  the  Romans,  and 
the  working  of  the  same  forces  under  the  Empire.  In  connection 
with  these  fundamental  considerations,  the  land  question  is  treated, 
and  the  history  of  literature  and  religion  is  carefully  traced. 

Teachers  will  notice  that  the  more  important  dates  are  incorpo- 
rated in  tlie  text,  while  the  free  use  of  dates  in  the  margin  serves 
to  give  more  detailed  guidance  to  the  reader. 

Particular  care  was  taken  in  the  selection  of  maps  and  illustra- 
tions. The  colored  maps  are  reproductions  of  the  charts  accom- 
panying Professor  Freemau*s  Historical  Geography  of  Europe. 
The  cuts  are  from  the  best  authorities.  Many  leading  colleges, 
among  them  Harvard,  Smith,  and  Wellesley,  reconunend  Allen's 
history  for  preparation. 

Frances  E.  Lord,  Professor  of 
Latin,  Wellesley  College:  There 
seems  a  remarkably  happy  combin- 
ing of  the  general  survey  with  such 
attention  to  important  details  as 
leaves  a  vivid  impression  upon  the 
mind,  and  gives  an  accurate  idea  of 
the  history  as  a  whole  with  its  fea- 
tures in  just  proportion  and  due  re- 
lations, where  nothing  is  vague  and 
nothing  exaggerated. 


James  Monroe,  Professor  of  His- 
tory, Oberlia  College :  It  strikes  me 
there  are  few  works  so  unpretentious 
which  have  so  much  merit.  It  ap- 
pears to  me  clear,  compact,  learned, 
and  interesting. 

J.  H.  Kirkland,  Prof essor  of  Latin, 
Vanderbilt  University:  I  am  sure 
that  this  work  will  meet  with  great 
success  and  that  it  deserves  all  the 
favor  it  has  already  met  with. 


118 


HISTORY. 


HISTORY. 


119 


Myers's  Ancient  History. 

(Part  I.  is  Myers's  Eastern  Motions  and  Greece. 

Part  11.  is  Myers's  Rome.) 

12mo.   Half  morocco.  617  pages.  Illustrated.  Mailing  price,  ^1.65 ;  foi 
introduction,  ^1.50. 

Where  so  much  can  be  written  it  re- 
quires superior  judgment  to  treat 
each  topic  with  its  due  relative  im- 
portance. Such  judgment  has  been 
exercised  in  Mjers's  History. 

D.  H.  Montgomery,  Author  of  the 
"  Leading  Facts  of  History  "  series  : 
I  have  frequently  had  occasion  to 
consult  the  excellent  series  of  school 
histories  by  President  Myers,  and  I 
know  of  none  which  equal  them.  The 
figures  are  not  mummies  but  living 
men;  and  the  student  finds  himself 
in  vital  contact  with  them. 


T.  C.  Kama,  Prof,  of  History, 
Univ.  of  Tennessee  :  Your  new  his- 
tory by  Myers  is  most  excellent. 

Edward  G.  Bourne,  Prof,  of  His- 
tory, Adelbert  College,  Cleveland, 
Ohio:  Myers's  Ancient  History  has 
the  same  merit  as  the  Mediaeval  and 
Modem  History,  —  a  clear  and  inter- 
esting narrative  relieved  of  useless 
details.  The  chapters  on  art  and 
literature  are  a  valuable  feature. 

James  Winne,  Prin.  of  High 
School, Poitghkeepsie,  K.Y.:  I  count 
it  an  excellent  book  for  class  use. 


Myers  and  Allen's  Ancient  History. 

(Part  /.  is  Myers's  Eastern  Nations  and  Greece, 

Part  U.  is  Allen's  Short  History  of  the  Roman  People.) 

12mo.   Half  morocco.   763  pages.   Illustrated.   Mailing  price,  31.65;  for 
Introduction,  $1.50. 


L.  C.  Hull,  Teacher  of  Latin, 
Lawrenceville  School,  N.J. :  Allen's 
Rome  is  the  work  of  a  thorough 
scholar  who  has  so  mastered  the 
grace  of  style  as  to  command  both 

perspicuity  and  nervous  strength 

Neither  the  philosophical  nor  the  pic- 
turesque aspect  of  Roman  history  has 
been  ignored.  .  .  .  The  little  book, 
well  taught,  will  not  merely  equip 
for  the  ordeal  of  a  college  entrance 
examination,  but  will  stimulate  fur- 
ther interest  in  the  social  and  politi- 
cal life  of  the  Roman. 

W.  B.  Owen,  Prof,  of  Latin,  La- 
fayette College :  I  am  much  pleased 
with  it. . . .  It  seems  to  me  to  serve 
the  purpose  of  a  short  history  admi- 
lably.    It  is  well  named  a  **  History 


of  the  People,"  and,  especially  in  the 
development  of  the  Roman  constitu- 
tion, the  outlines  are  well  drawn.  I 
shall  recommend  it  to  my  students 
as  one  of  the  books  they  will  find 
extremely  helpful. 

C.  F.  Smith,  Prof,  of  Greek,  Vati' 
derbilt  University :  Professor  Myers 
has  certainly  succeeded  in  giving  us 
a  good  Greek  history  for  schools. 

I.  T.  Beckwith,  Prof,  of  Greek, 
Trinity  College:  It  is  far  more  in- 
teresting and  useful  than  any  other 
epitome  of  the  kind  which  I  have 
seen. 

F.  S.  Morrison,  Teacher  of  Greek, 
High  School,  Hartford,  Conn.:  I 
regard  it  as  the  best  history  of  Greece 
for  school  use  I  have  ever  seen. 


Outlines  of  Mediceual  and  Modern  History. 

By  P.  V.  N.  Myers,  A.M.,  Prof.  History,  Univ.  of  Ciuciunati,  author 
of  Outlines  of  Ancient  History,  aud  Remains  of  Lost  Empires.  12mo. 
Half  morocco,  xii  +  740  pages.  With  colored  maps,  reproduced,  by  per- 
mission, from  Freeman's  Historical  Atlas.  Mailing  price,  $1.65;  for 
introduction,  $1J50. 

rpHIS  work  aims  to  blend  in  a  single  narrative  accounts  of  the 
social,  political,  literary,  intellectual,  and  religious  develop- 
ment of  the  peoples  of  mediaeval  and  modern  times,  —  to  give  in 
simple  outline  the  story  of  civilization  since  the  meeting,  in  the 
fifth  century  of  our  era,  of  Latin  and  Teuton  upon  the  soil  of  the 
Roman  Empire  in  the  West.  The  author's  conception  of  History, 
based  on  the  definitions  of  Ueberweg,  that  it  is  the  unfolding  of  the 
essence  of  spirit,  affords  the  kej^-note  to  the  work.  Its  aim  is  to 
deal  with  the  essential  elements,  not  the  accidental  features,  of  the 
life  of  the  race. 

Unity  and  cohesion  are  secured  by  grouping  facts  according  to 
the  principles  of  historic  development,  and  while  the  analysis  is 
rigid  and  scientific,  the  narrative  will  be  found  clear,  continuous, 
interesting,  and  suggestive. 


W.  r.  Allen,  late  Prof.  History, 
Univ.  of  Wisconsin:  Mr.  Myers's 
book  seems  to  me  to  be  a  work  of 
high  excellence,  and  to  give  a  re- 
markably clear  and  vivid  picture  of 
mediaeval  history. 

£.  B.  Andrews,  Pres.  Broicn  Uni- 
versity, Providence,  R.I.:  It  seems 
certain  to  take  its  place  as  one  of  the 
most  serviceable  books  of  its  kind 
before  the  school  and  college  public. 

Geo.  W.  Knight,  Prof,  of  History, 
Ohio  State  University:  The  p.uthor 
seems  to  have  gotten  hold  of  the 
active  principle,  the  leading  motives 
and  tendencies  of  each  age;  to  have 
taken  a  comprehensive  view  of  the 
development  of  man's  ideas,  of  na- 
tions, and  of  governments.  Then  he 
has  grouped  the  various  events  in 


such  a  way  as  will  bring  clearly  to 
view  these  different  phases  of  the 
world-development  without  ignoring 
what  may  be  called  the  collateral 
events. 

Frances  M.  Buss,  Prin.  2^.  London 
College  for  Girls,  London,  England: 
A  valual)le  work,  not  too  detailed, 
but  enumerating  general  principles. 
The  maps  are  especially  valuable, 
and  the  book  is  sufficiently  interest- 
ing to  be  used  as  a  school  prize.  It 
supplies  a  place  in  the  ranks  of  our 
text-books  until  now  empty. 

Brandt  B.  D.  Dixon,  President 
Wo)nans  Department,  Talane  .Uni- 
versity :  I  am  using  it  with  the  best 
results  I  have  ever  seen  in  the  study 
of  the  period  treated. 


120 


HISTORY. 


122 


HISTORY. 


The  Leading  Facts  of  English  History. 


T 


By  D.  H.  MoNTGe»iERY.  New  edition.  Rewritten  and  enlarged,  with 
Maixs  and  Tables.  12mo.  Cloth,  viii  +  445  pages.  Mailing  price, 
^1.25;  for  intrml action,  $l.VI. 

HE  former  edition  has  leen  rewritten,  as  it  had  become  evident 
that  a  work  on  the  same  plan,  but  more  comprehensive,  and 
better  siiittMl  to  prevailing  courses  and  methods  of  class-work, 
would  be  still  more  heartily  welcomed. 

Im^wrtant  events  are  treated  with  greater  fullness,  and  the  rela- 
tion of  English  History  to  tliat  of  Euro^^e  and  the  world  is  care- 
fully shown.     References  for  further  study  are  added. 

The  text  is  in  short  paragraphs,  each  with  a  topical  heading  in 
l»old  type  for  the  student's  use.  The  headings  may  be  made  to 
serve  the  purpose  of  (luestious.  By  simply  passing  them  over,  the 
reader  has  a  clear,  continuous  narrative. 

The  treatment  of  each  n'ign  is  closed  with  a  brief  summary  of 
its  principal  i)oints.  Likewise,  at  the  end  of  each  i)eriod  tliere  is 
a  section  showing  the  condition  of  the  country,  and  its  progress  in 
Government,  Religion,  Military  AlTairs,  Learning  and  Vrt,  (u'ueral 
Industry,  Planners  and  Customs.  Thes«»  summaries  will  be  found 
of  the  g-reatest  value  for  reference,  review,  and  fuller  study  ;  but 
when  the  book  is  used  for  a  brief  course,  or  for  general  reading,  they 
may  be  omitted.  An  aiiiH-ndix  gives  a  Constitutional  Summary. 
No  pains  have  been  spared  to  make  the  execution  of  the  work 
equal  to  its  plan.  Vivid  touches  here  and  there  betray  the  author's 
mastery  of  details.  Thorough  investigation  has  been  made  of  all 
ix)ints  where  there  was  reason  to  doubt  traditional  statements. 
The  proof-sheets  have  been  caref  idly  read  by  two  experienced  high- 
scliool  teachers,  and  also  by  two  college  professors  of  history. 

The  text  is  illustrated  with  fourteen  maps,  and  supplemented 
with  full  genealogical  and  chronological  tables. 

It  is  believed  that  this  book  will  be  acknowledged  superior  — 
1.  In  interest.  2.  In  ace u racy. 

3;  In  judicious  selection  of  jnafter. 

4.  In  conciseness  combined  with  adequacy. 

5.  In  philosophical  insight  free  from  speculation  or  theorizing. 

6.  In  completeness. 

7.  In  availability  as  a  practical  class-room  book. 


The  Leading  Facts  of  French  History, 

By  D.  H.  Montgomery,  Author  of  77ie  Leading  Facts  of  English  His- 
tort/f  English  History  Reader^  etc.  12mo.  Cloth,  vi  +  321  pages,  with 
fourteen  black  and  colored  maps,  and  full  tables.  Mailing  Price,  $1.25; 
for  Introduction,  $1.12. 

n^HE  object  of  this  volume  is  to  present,  within  the  moderate 
compass  of  two  hundred  and  ninety-two  pages,  the  most  im« 
portant  events  of  the  history  of  France,  selected,  arranged,  and 
treated  according  to  the  soundest  principles  of  historical  study, 
and  set  forth  in  a  clear  and  attractive  narrative. 

The  respective  influences  of  the  Celtic  race,  and  of  the  Roman 
and  the  German  conquest  and  occupation  of  Gaul  are  clearly 
shown. 

Charlemagne's  work  and  the  subsequent  growth  of  feudal  insti- 
tutions are  next  considered. 

The  breaking  up  of  the  feudal  system,  with  the  gradual  consoli- 
dation of  the  provinces  into  one  kingdom,  and  the  development  of 
the  sentiment  of  nationality,  are  traced  and  illustrated. 

The  growth  of  the  absolutism  of  the  crown,  the  interesting  and 
important  relations  of  France  to  America,  and  the  causes  of  the 
French  Revolution,  are  fully  presented. 

The  career  of  Napoleon  and  its  effects  on  France  and  Europe 
are  carefully  examined. 

Finally,  a  sketch  is  given  of  the  stages  of  the  historical  progress 
of  France  in  connection  with  the  state  of  the  Republic  to-day. 


G.  W.  Knight,  Prof,  of  History, 
Ohio  State  University:  I  do  not 
know  another  book  which,  in  any- 
thing like  the  same  space,  conveys 
for  youthful  students  so  good  a  no- 
tion of  French  events. 

A.  H.  Fetterolf,  Pres,  of  Girard 
College  :  I  like  it  very  much.  It  is 
an  excellent  book  and  I  trust  sooa  to 
have  it  used  in  Girard  College. 

Edward  G.  Bourne,  Prof,  of  His^ 
tory,  Adelbert  College:  1  have  no 
hesitation  in  pronouncing  it  the  best 
French  history  of  Its  scope  that  I 
have  seen.    It  is  clear  and  accurate, 


and  shows  unusual  skill  in  the  selec- 
tion of  matter  as  well  as  judgment 
in  emphasizing  the  political  signifi- 
cance of  events. 

The  Nation,  New  York :  It  is  a 
marked  advance  on  any  available 
work  of  its  scope.  The  author  has 
shown  competent  judgment  in  the 
choice  of  his  facts  and  his  style  is 
clear  and  Interesting.  The  propor- 
tions are  well  observed,  and  the  po- 
litical significance  of  events  is  given 
due  prominence  in  his  treatment 
So  far  as  we  have  noticed,  anosna] 
accuracy  has  been  acliieved. 


HISTORY. 


123 


The  Leading  Facts  of  American  History. 

?I  ^*  H.  Montgomery,  author  of  The  Leading  Facts  of  Ilistortf  Series 
IJmo.  Half  morocco,  xii  +  359  pages,  besides  colored  maps  and  full- 
page  illustrations,  with  an  Appendix  of  67  pages.  Mailing  price.  Sl.15 ; 
for  introduction,  $l.oa  s  t'   ^^t  -c^.i^ , 

JpEW  text-books  have  met  with  such  immediate  recognition  as 
this.  Though  published  late  in  the  summer  of  1890,  it  was, 
within  a  few  months,  adopted  by  such  cities  as  Philadelphia,  Chi- 
cago, Providence,  R,I.,  Burlington,  Vt.,  Lynn,  Mass.,  by  counties, 
and  by  numberless  institutions.  It  seems  to  be  regarded  by  the  best 
judges  as,  on  the  whole,  the  best  school  history  of  the  United 
States  yet  published.  It  was  written  and  not  simply  compiled. 
The  author  did  not  take  it  for  granted  that  a  history  of  our  coun- 
try must  be  a  perfunctory  work  made  up  from  previous  histories 
and  merely  iterating  an  old  set  of  facts,  ideas,  and  stories.  The 
book  is  a  panorama  of  the  leading  events  of  our  history,  with  their 
causes  and  results  clearly  traced.  Attention  has  been  given  to  all 
the  departments  of  American  life  and  activity.  It  describes  the 
development  of  the  American  people.  The  author's  broad  and 
liberal  sympathies  saved  him  from  sectarian,  sectional,  or  parti- 
san views.  The  style  is  full  of  life,  and  the  words  can  all  be 
understood  by  the  pupils  for  whom  the  book  is  designed. 


P.  V.  N.  Myers,  author  of  Gen- 
eral History,  etc.:  I  have  read  it 
carefully,  and  with  great  interest. 
It  is  in  every  way  admirable. 

George  A.  Walton,  Af/ent  Mass. 
State  Board  of  Education:  It  is  as 


interesting  as  romance.  It  is  instruc- 
tive, especially  on  matters  pertaining 
to  the  customs  of  the  people,  and  to 
their  methods  of  advancing  their  wel- 
fare. With  these  excellences,  it  must 
prove  also  a  book  that  will  teach. 


The  Beginner's  American  History, 

By  D.  H.  Montgomery,  author  of  The  Leading  Facts  of  ffistorif  Series 
12mo.  Cloth.  220  piges.  Fully  illustrated  with  new  maps  and 
pictures.    Mailing  price,  70  cents ;  for  introduction,  (X)  cents. 

^HIS  book  tells  the  story  of  the  nation  in  thirty  biographies 
of  its  most  representative  men.  It  is  entirely  free  from 
sectional  or  other  bias,  and  its  beautiful  make-up  renders  it 
doubly  attractive  to  its  young  students.  (See  Common  School 
Catcdogue.) 


124 


HISTORY. 


Outline  of  the  Principles  of  History. 

(Grundriss  der  Historik.)  By  Johann  Gustav  Droysen,  Late  Pro- 
fessor of  History  in  the  University  of  Berlin.  With  a  Biographical 
Sketch  of  the  Author.  Translated  by  E.  Benjamin  Andrews,  Presi- 
dent of  Brown  University.  12mo.  Cloth.  XXXV  + 122  pages.  Mailing 
price,  $1.10;  for  introduction,  61.00. 

T^HE  translator  believes  this  book  to  be  the  deepest  piece  of 
philosophical  writing  which  has  appeared  since  Hegel. 
While  relating  primarily  to  history,  its  weighty  paragraphs  com- 
prise in  outline  a  philosophy  of  religion,  literature,  and  pedagogy, 
all  in  one.  The  Historik  was  the  syllabus  which  Professor  Droysen 
used  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  advanced  classes  in  History,  as 
a  basis  for  his  extended  lectures,  the  best  ever  delivered  upon  the 
subject,  on  the  Encyclopaedia  and  Methodology  of  History.  This 
little  work  will  appeal  powerfully  to  all  readers  possessing  a  philo- 
sophic cast  of  mind,  who  love  to  think  truth  in  its  ultimate  forms. 

Herbert  Tuttle,  Prof,  of  Modern  George  W.  Smith,  Prof,  of  His- 

European  History,  Cornell  Univer-  tory,  Colgate  University,  Hamilton, 

sity :  It  ought  to  enjoy  the  respect  N.  Y. :  I  have  earnestly  commended 

of  all  American  historical  scholars,  it  to  my  senior  classes. 

Reference  History  of  the  United  States. 

By  Hannah  A.  Davidson,  M.A.,  Teacher  of  History,  Belmont  School, 
California.  12mo.  Cloth.  xii  +  llK)  pages.  By  niail,  90  cents;  for 
introduction,  80  cents. 

npiIIS  book,  which  is  designed  expressly  for  schools  of  advanced 
grade,  high  schools,  academies,  and  seminaries,  is  an  attempt 
to  connect  history  teaching  more  closely  in  method  and  matter 
with  the  teaching  and  study  of  history  in  the  college  and  the 
university. 

The  subject  is  divided  into  a  series  of  topics ;  under  each  topic 
questions  are  asked;  and  after  each  question  references  to  the 
best  accessible  authorities  are  given  in  abbreviated  form,  though 
in  such  a  way  as  to  be  immediately  understood.  A  space  is  left 
after  each  set  of  references  for  additional  ones  to  be  inserted  by 
the  student. 


Oliver  Emerson  Bennett.  Cha\incy 
Hall  Scfiool,  Boston :  It  is  a  valuable 


and  useful  addition  to  my  library,  and 
a  great  assistance  in  my  daily  work. 


itl 


HISTORI. 


125 


Introduction  to  the  Studu  of  the  Middle  Aaes. 

rpms  work  aims  to  give,  i„  si,np]e  narrative  form,  an  account  of 
the  settlement  of  the  Germanic  peoples  on  Roman  soil    the 

han  Church  and  its  expression  in  the  monastic  life  and  in  the 
Roman  Papacy,  and  finally  the  culmination  of  all  in  the  Empire  of 
Charlemagne.  The  text  is  supplemented  with  maps,  lists  of  works 
for  reference,  accounts  of  the  contemporaneous  mat  rial  on  wh  ch 
the  narrative  is  based,  and  suggestions  to  teachers  upon  topicrand 
methods  of  special  study.  ^ 

„T*^°-^'''JJ^'   '^'"'P'*''-  The  Romans  to  A-D.-WS      n    Thn  Twn  p 
III.  The  Breaking  of  tl.e  Frontier  by  the  Visigoths      IV    vl^,,'^ 

Martel    to   Charlema-nP      V/n    V^k    i  ^®  ^T^n\,s  imia  Charles 

VTTT   V,        ^"'♦riemagrne.      AllI.    Charlemaamo.    Kino-   nf   +I10    t?,„.  i 
XIV.  Foiiiidationof  the  Medieval  EinDire     XV    t    "«     •  ^^^nl^s- 

Feudal  System.  empire.    XV  .    Ihe  Beginuiiigs  of  the 


George  P.  Fisher,  Prof,  of  Eccle- 
suLstical  History,  Yale  Colkf/e:  It  is 
an  admirable  guide  to  both  teachers 
and  pupils  in  the  tangled  period  of 
which  it  treats.  The  work  is  the 
fruit  of  diligent  investigation ;  it  is 
concise,  but,  at  the  same  time,  lucid 
mnd  interestinsr. 


and  Political  Economy,  Amherst 
toiief/e:  It  is  excellent,  and  I  shall 
recommend  it  to  my  classes. 

P.  V.  N.  Myera.  Prof  in  Univ.  of 
tincmnati:  I  have  read  the  book 
with  great  interest.  It  is  a  work 
of  rare  historical  insiglit.  .  .  .  The 
book  is  indispensable  to  any  student 


Anson  D.  Horse  Pmf  ^f  rr.:,„.       ...    >s  indispensable  to  any  student 
'^uu.  u.  morse.  J  ro/.  of  History  I  of  the  history  of  tlie  Meaiieval  Ages. 

Historia  do  Brazil. 

^ia  P^fesSi™  Sltf  ?/'!•  P^™  -";1»  eseolas  primarias  Brazileiras. 

pages,    inustrated.^"^-^  ^aitCeulsT^o^'^troJSon.^itnts^  ^  ^^ 

Xim  is  a  histoiyof  Bra.il  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  year 

the  i!!t  w  TM"  *'?^P''rt"g^-e  language.  It  is  believed  to  be 
«.e  best  work  of  its  kind  extant,  and  will  be  found  also  an  excel- 
lent  reading-book  for  students  of  Portuguese. 


/    ' 


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